The path to closing the gender divide is not a straight line. Despite women making substantial gains in entering work fields that would have been virtually closed to them 50 years ago, many other occupations remain stratified along gender lines. This image shows an analysis by theWall Street Journal of nearly five decades of US demographic and employment data from IPUMS-CPS. The data shows that some of the biggest moves towards equality have happened in law and finance, with women now holding over 50% of the positions in these fields, although senior roles are still overwhelmingly occupied by men. As occupations grow in prestige and pay, they also tend to lose women over time. And unsurprisingly, fields traditionally seen as nurturing are still mainly dominated by women, and those traditionally seen as physically demanding by men.

Tags: