Commentary October 31, 2022

The New Workplace Gender Imbalance: Social Capital and Job Satisfaction

Daniel A. Cox, Brent Orrell, Jessie Wall

A cartoon of three miniature persons sitting on another person's hands that has shrubbery on them.

The Bulwark

The U.S. labor market has been dramatically transformed over the past few decades. At the height of the manufacturing economy in the late 1970s, the assembly line with its routine, manual tasks provided ample, well-compensated jobs that were disproportionately held by men. Today’s post-industrial economy dominated by services and information, on the other hand, places a high (and growing) premium on “soft” skills—teamwork, communication, interpersonal skills, collaboration. In general, women have these skills in greater abundance—which is a major factor in why, in today’s “social workplace,” women are thriving and while men are falling behind.

In June, we asked over 5,000 Americans in a statistically balanced survey a range of questions about their jobs. Their responses, summarized in our new report, “The Social Workplace,” reveal a wealth of insights about how social capital and workplace connections influence work attitudes and job satisfaction and how women are benefiting from the shift toward a greater emphasis on human-facing skills.