Gender and the Information Work Force: New Zealand Evidence and Issues

ABSTRACT

This paper documents the growth and gender composition of New Zealand's information work force over the period 1976‐96. By 1996, about 55% of the female work force was employed in information occupations, compared to 40% of the male work force. The share of high-skilled information workers increased substantially over time, and faster for females than males. This suggests faster upskilling of the female information work force. The paper also briefly comments on some related, but much narrower, 'knowledge worker' concepts, and on some of the problems encountered if one wants to relate the work force measures to endogenous growth theory. The concluding comments provide a wish list of further research.

Keywords:

• Information Workers
• Gender
• The Knowledge Economy
• New Zealand