女性统治的五大职业

    在理想状态下，性别不应该影响人们为之接受培训之后而得到的工作，或者影响人们的报酬。但我们现在还远远没有达到这样的理想状态。与此同时，在过去几十年间的美国，个别职业从男性占多数变成了女性占统治地位。以下是美国劳工统计局（Bureau of Labor Statistics）公布的五种由女性统治的职业。

药剂师

    美国第一所药剂学院——费城药剂学院（The Philadelphia College of Pharmacy）成立于1821年。直到1883年，才有第一位女性从这所学院毕业并获得学位，她就是苏珊•海赫斯特。后来，她成为费城女子医院（Women's Hospital of Philadelphia）药学部的负责人。她之后的每个班级，都有至少一名女性成功毕业。

    药剂学学生一直以男性居多。据美国劳工统计局统计，1983年，女性药剂师的比例仅占27%。但在过去三十年，这个行业的性别比例却发生了翻天覆地的变化。据美国药剂学院协会（American Association of colleges of Pharmacy）公布的数字，至2011年秋，报名攻读药剂师专业学位的学生中，60%为女性。2012年，女性占美国执业药剂师的比例已经高达54%。

会计师

    1896年，纽约举办了第一次注册会计师正式资格考试。三年后，出生于加拿大新斯科舍省的克里斯汀•罗斯成为美国第一位女性注册会计师。然而，罗斯获得认证之后的许多年里，其他女性想要进入这个领域仍然面临重重困难。

    据美国劳工统计局统计，从1983年起，女性开始在会计师这个行业中占据了一席之地，人数占到美国会计师总数的39%。截至2012年，60%的会计师为女性。当然，这并不意味着女性面临的障碍已经不复存在——据非营利研究机构Catalyst在2012年公布的报告显示，2011年，会计师事务所的合伙人中仅有21%为女性。

医师助理

    杜克大学（Duke University）的尤金在1965年启动了第一个医师助理项目。项目主要为了解决两个问题：一方面，美国的初级保健医生人才短缺；另一方面，接受过医疗培训的士兵在退役之后却没有明确的途径能把他们掌握的技能应用于平民生活。1975年，一家名为美国医师助理认证委员会（National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants）的独立机构成立，对这个职业的认证进行监督。

    上世纪60年代和70年代，大多数医师助理都是男性，但性别比例一直在不断变化。1983年，美国劳工统计局的数据显示，美国约35%的医师助理为女性。目前，女性医师助理的比例约为70%。出现这种现象的原因很大程度上可能是因为，女性成为医师助理比成为医生在经济上更加合算。2012年，耶鲁大学（Yale）一项研究显示，考虑到教育成本，以及男性与女性医师之间的工资差距，女性医师助理的收入可能要高于女性医生。

    Ideally, gender wouldn't affect the jobs people train for and get, or how they are compensated. But we're certainly not there yet. At the same time, certain American jobs have shifted from majority male to majority female over the past few decades. Here are five professions that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women rule.

Pharmacists

    The first North American pharmacy school, The Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, was founded in 1821. The first woman didn't graduate from the school until 1883, when Susan Hayhurst received her degree. Later on, she led the pharmaceutical department of the Women's Hospital of Philadelphia. Every class following Hayhurst graduated at least one woman.

    The pharmacy student population skewed male for quite some time. As recently as 1983, only 27% of pharmacists were women, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But over the past 30 years or so, the gender breakdown has shifted. As of fall 2011, 60% of students enrolled in pharmacy professional degree programs were women, according to the American Association of colleges of Pharmacy. In 2012, women made up 54% of practicing pharmacists nationwide.

Accountants

    In 1896, New York issued the first official qualification test for certified public accountants. Three years later, Christine Ross, who was born in Nova Scotia, became the first certified female accountant in the United States. For years after Ross gained her certificate, it was tough for women to enter the field.

    As of 1983, women began to gain ground in the profession, making up 39% of accountants in the U.S. workforce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By 2012, 60% of accountants were women. That's not to say that all hurdles have been removed -- as of 2011, only 21% of partners at accounting firms were women, according to a 2012 report from Catalyst.

Physician assistants

    Duke University's Eugene Stead launched the first physician assistant's program in 1965 to address two problems. On the one hand, there was a shortage of primary care physicians across the country. On the other, men were leaving the military with medical training and no clear way to apply it to civilian life. In 1975, an independent organization called the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants was founded to oversee certification for the profession.

    In the '60s and '70s, most PA's were men, but the ratio has shifted. In 1983, the Bureau of Labor Statistics data says that about 35% of physician assistants in the country were women. Today, roughly 70% of PA's are women. Part of that might have to do with the fact that it is more lucrative, on average, for women to become PA's than doctors. A 2012 Yale study suggested that female PA's might end up earning more than women doctors, given the cost of education and the wage gap between male and female physicians.