While women still lag behind men in many job-related measures, they have made substantial progress over the past two generations in several areas:

• Education -- Individuals with college degrees typically earn substantially more than workers without a college degree. College graduates now make up 30% of the U.S. population over age 25. In 1950, women obtained 24% of all bachelor's degrees, but that percentage rose to 57.5% by 2004. Women in the workplace are now more educated than men -- approximately 19.8% of working women and 18.3% of working men are college graduates.

• Higher-paying occupations -- Women have also shifted their job preferences to better-paying jobs. For instance, 19% of women received bachelor's degrees in business in 2004, up from 2.9% in the early 1970s. The percentage of women obtaining degrees in education, on the other hand, decreased from 36.1% to 10.4%. Currently, women earn 3/4 of all veterinary medicine degrees, 2/3 of all pharmacy degrees, 1/2 of all law degrees, 1/2 of all medical degrees, 40% of all MBAs, and 40% of all dentistry degrees. By 2004, 33% of women earned more than their husbands.

Despite these gains, a large number of women still obtain degrees in areas more compatible with family responsibilities that also tend to have lower pay. For instance, women received more than 60% of bachelor's degrees in health professions, social services, education, English, and foreign languages.

• Less labor intensive work -- Women have also benefited from the economy's transformation from manufacturing to services. Men are much more likely to work in manufacturing jobs. Women have moved into formerly male-dominated occupations that typically aren't physically demanding.

• Businesses -- Women have also increasingly become entrepreneurs. In 1972, women only owned 4.6% of U.S. businesses. By 2002, women owned at least a half interest in nearly 40% of all U.S. businesses. However, women-owned businesses tend to be small -- 80% of women-owned businesses had $50,000 or less in receipts and 85% employed fewer than 10 people in 2002.

• Corporate executives -- Women are increasingly taking on jobs as corporate executives. In 1972, 17.6% of management jobs were occupied by women, which increased to 37.2% by 2004.

Over the past couple of decades, women have made choices that have prepared them well for the current job situation. While there is still a gender gap between wages earned by men and women, that gap has narrowed substantially.