A Century of Change: How Women’s Jobs Evolved from Factories to Boardrooms
A new visual timeline traces how American women moved from early 20th-century factory and clerical roles to today’s near-parity in the labor force.
Vintage images illustrate the progression of women’s employment in the United States over the last hundred years, beginning with modest roles like postal clerks in the 1920s, when only 5% of village carriers were female. World War I and II opened factory and aircraft-industry jobs, with women making up 65% of the US aircraft workforce by 1943. The post-war era saw a return to traditionally “female” occupations, but the 1960s and 1970s civil-rights legislation—including the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII—expanded opportunities and narrowed wage gaps.
The 1970s also marked the rise and subsequent decline of women in early computer programming. Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show women holding 50.4% of jobs in 2020, though participation fell during the COVID-19 pandemic and slipped slightly between July 2025 and July 2026.
Why it matters
Understanding the historical shifts in women’s employment helps gauge progress toward gender equality and informs future policy.
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