One Way Women Make Superior Workers

By Stephanie Gaspary, director of social strategy and creative services, CareerBuilder

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' data book on women in the labor force, women have made significant progress in the areas of educational achievement and earnings over the past 40 years. Labor-force participation is significantly higher among women today than it was in the 1970s, but it seems to have peaked at 60 percent in 1999. By 2011, 58.1 percent of women were in the labor force, down 0.5 percentage point from 2010.

While there are a variety of reasons women may be exiting the workforce, the economic benefits to promote female employment are clear. According to a recent paper by management consultants Booz & Co. titled, "Empowering the Third Billion: Women and the World of Work in 2012," "If female employment rates were to match male rates in the United States, overall GDP would increase by 5 percent."