Women are occupying an increasing proportion of all job categories. Note particularly:

• Growth in the percentage of women in the Managerial and Administrative category during the Decade (from 18% in 1975 to 33% in 1985) has been dramatic. This is especially important since it was one of the World Plan of Action goals for the Decade.
  
  Since growth in the Managerial and Administrative areas has been more rapid than other areas, women have had more opportunity to increase their representation in management/ administrative jobs.
  
  
• Women's share of blue collar jobs has increased only marginally and remains lower than in any other category. This is an equally important finding since an increase in the representation of women in non-traditional jobs was also a key goal of the World Plan of Action.

However, even this low participation rate is more optimistic than it seems because women who work in blue collar Jobs are mainly concentrated in a few sub-categories involving processing and fabricating food and textiles.

Women's share of blue collar jobs may have increased slowly because the decline in all primary and secondary industries has resulted in little opportunity for men or women in these areas, as the next FIGURES show.

FIGURE 22

Women as a % of Each Occupational Category 1971, 1975 & 1985

Source: Statistics Canada, The Labor Force (Monthly), Cat. #71-001