In December 2016, University of Michigan economist Betsey Stevenson urged the incoming administration to stop telling men to cling to disappearing jobs and instead make “girly jobs” more appealing to men. That message feels even more relevant today.
For decades policy attention focused on getting more women into male-dominated fields. Some progress was made, especially in STEM, but the recent pattern in job growth shows men need help as well. Of the 369,000 jobs the Labor Department says were created since the start of Donald Trump’s second term, about 348,000 went to women and only 21,000 went to men—nearly 17 times as many jobs filled by women. Much of that imbalance reflects big gains in health care, where women hold nearly 80% of jobs; health care added about 390,000 jobs in the past year, more than the net gain for the economy overall.
Stevenson says men are less likely than women to retrain or move into fields that are growing because many men tie their identity to particular occupations. Meanwhile, the administration has emphasized manufacturing—Trump has repeatedly promised tariffs and policies to bring factories and manufacturing jobs back. When manufacturing added 15,000 jobs in March, the White House touted it as progress, but the sector still remained about 82,000 jobs below its level when Trump took office. Stevenson argues there simply aren’t enough of those manufacturing jobs for men as a whole to thrive.
Richard Reeves, president of the nonpartisan American Institute for Boys and Men, says the scarcity of men in certain professions has received too little attention. He cautions against panic but urges awareness that the labor market may be moving in ways that leave many men behind. Reeves notes that getting more women into STEM required deliberate efforts to break down gender stereotypes; similar programs and policies could be used to draw men into nursing, teaching, social work and other people-focused occupations. He argues those fields should reflect the people they serve and that expanding men’s access to them would prevent men from missing out on growing job opportunities.
Stevenson has thought about how to make sectors like health care more welcoming to men, including reframing roles in ways that appeal to masculine identities—highlighting physical aspects of care work, or positioning preschool teaching as an opportunity for male role models. She acknowledges that invoking gendered traits can offend, but says pragmatic messaging might help men see caregiving roles as consistent with masculinity.
Neither expert wants the current pattern to be read as proof that everything is fine for women. Stevenson warns that discrimination still blocks promotions and feeds a widening gender pay gap. For men, the problem may be sitting on the sidelines because they don’t see a role for themselves in the changing economy.
Both say this is a moment to recognize that occupational segregation and discrimination harm many people, not just one group, and to design policies that encourage broader occupational mobility for everyone.