Men still dominate the workforce, report says, but these Long Island women persevere

In February 2023, Katie Schnepp became the first permanent state park ranger on Long Island, one of relatively few women in the program. 

For a year, Schnepp, 48, coordinated the hiring, training and deployment of dozens of seasonal park rangers in 12 state parks across Nassau and Suffolk counties. After that year, the Melville resident switched roles at the state to become an environmental educator, but in her time as a park ranger, she numbered among the ranks of women building careers in roles traditionally dominated by men. 

Despite great strides women have made in the workplace over the past decades, they are still underrepresented across many professions. Recent research indicates that progress toward gender parity has, in many ways, stagnated — and even regressed — compared to 10 years ago as corporate commitment to diversity declines.

Concerns among advocates about women's progress has only increased in the wake of the Trump administration's slashing of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, with some expressing concern about several initiatives, including the rescindment of a decades-old executive order meant to ensure that federal contractors do not discriminate against employees on the basis of sex, race, religion and other factors.

What the numbers show

A report released last month by the state comptroller's office found that women in New York were paid just over 87 cents on the dollar compared with men in 2023, and it concluded that gender equity in the workplace has stalled in recent years.

That finding coincides with research that found in 2024, 48% of entry-level corporate positions and 29% of C-suite positions, or executive-level managers, nationally were held by women, according to a September report released by global consulting firm McKinsey & Co. In 2015, 45% of entry-level positions and 17% of C-suite positions were women. Just 7% of those C-suite spots in 2024 belonged to women of color.  

The report indicates that it's more difficult for women, and especially women of color, to move up the ladder; for every 100 men who received their first promotion to manager last year, 81 women were promoted. 

In the final quarter of 2024, across the country women took home a median $1,083 in weekly earnings, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's equivalent to 83.2% of the $1,302 weekly median for men. 

Pre-pandemic, nearly 60% of women were employed in education and health, leisure and hospitality, and retail and wholesale trade, according to the Center for American Progress.

Despite recent gains, gender equity at work is nearly 50 years away, the McKinsey report says, with progress remaining "surprisingly fragile, especially for women of color, who continue to be underrepresented at every level." 

The analysis estimates that, at the current pace of progress, it would take more than twice as long for women of color to reach parity than white women, who are on track to meet that goal in around 22 years.

“Like all workers, women experience limited structural supports for balancing paid work with other aspects of their lives,” said Jillian Crocker, associate professor of sociology at SUNY Old Westbury. “That certainly varies by occupation but ranges from low pay, limited benefits, to limited supports for caregivers.”

But on top of that, she added, women face “pay inequities, assumptions about their interests and abilities,” and in some cases, marginalization or overt discrimination and harassment.

Most Americans continue to “work in sex-segregated occupations,” Crocker pointed out, and “while we've made strides with regards to pay equity, the greatest gains have really been made for white women.”

Fighting for space

Siyu Liu, 61, an architect based in Southampton, said she's faced both racism and sexism throughout her career. When she was younger, she said, she needed to bring a man to paraphrase what she said to clients at work sites.

“I remember I was working for this architect in Riverhead, and when I picked up the phone people asked me if I was the wife or the secretary,” she recalled, or people would ask about her projects, “Did your husband help you?”

Reflecting on her experience in recent years, the Wading River resident said that sometimes discrimination and especially sexual harassment can be “hard to pinpoint.”

“Someone winks at you, what does that mean? You can't say he did something bad to you,” she said.

Aviva Hurvitz, 25, an engineer at Global Industrial in Port Washington, has often been one of few women in the room. All of her professors and the majority of her classmates at college were men, she recalled, which is representative of the overall field. According to the Society of Women Engineers, 7.7% of employed women with bachelor's degrees in 2021 worked in science and engineering occupations. 

At school, she had to climb an extra flight of stairs to use the restroom because there was no women's room on the machinery floor, and she felt like she “had to go above and beyond” to earn respect as a woman in engineering.

She's the seventh generation of her family to become an engineer; but all, until her mother, were men.

“My mom has been one of my main role models for being a strong woman in male-dominated fields,” she said, but finding female mentors in the field has been challenging.

The value of mentorship

Role models and mentors help support individuals and facilitate access to opportunities, Crocker said, and help people “to envision a world in which various pathways are possible.”

“More than that, perhaps, I think any time that we can look to others who may understand and empathize with the particularities of our experience, there's an opportunity to recognize that our challenges aren't just personal problems,” she added. “And by extension, there's an opportunity to pursue broader solutions.”

Despite the benefits of mentorship and other support programs, the McKinsey report found in a 2024 survey of nearly 300 companies that some have actually scaled back programs designed to advance women.

Fewer say gender and racial diversity are priorities, the report says, and companies are investing less in career development, mentorship and sponsorship programs for women.

In all cases, companies are investing in fewer programs to advance women of color, according to the McKinsey report.

This runs contrary to the report's recommended solutions — that corporations should invest more resources in developing women leaders and hold themselves accountable for progress.

Diane Ambrosio, an assistant project manager at Jericho-based B2K Development, said gender has not created significant barriers in her career. She's worked for more than 20 years in the construction industry, where just 1 in 10 workers is a woman, while raising her two daughters.

Ambrosio, 60, of Massapequa, said her children have always admired her work; they weren't sure of her exact title when they were younger, but “they thought it was pretty cool,” she recalled.

“I would tell my kids, just get into a company that you like,” said Ambrosio, speaking from the community center of a nearly finished apartment complex she's overseeing. “And then you will find your path within it because you can grow.”

By Brianne Ledda

brianne.ledda@newsday.com@brianne_ledda

Brianne Ledda covers personal finance and affordability for Newsday. She previously covered Southold and Greenport for The Suffolk Times and is a graduate of Stony Brook University.