As fields become “feminized,” prestige and pay go down.
Note that this is not an economic effect, in that it is not excess supply-caused. Even in fields where demand outstrips supply when women enter a field en masse pay decreases and prestige also dies a quick death.
If you ignore the meta- temporarily, this is a legitimate fear that male IT workers have. (Note: Read closely. I am not saying that it is right or “best world,” but the fear is legitimate.) Because unless IT nerds somehow succeed in changing thousands of years of entrenched misogyny and patriarchy, it is an actual fact that when women enter the field and excel there beyond a certain ratio the entire field’s pay and prestige will decline.
As the post pointed out, within 10-20 years expect the profession of doctor to be seen as much, much less prestigious. The same will happen with attorneys, too, as women come to dominate that.
Interesting how fields shift to “soft” and “easy” when women succeed there, though nothing at all has changed about the skills, science or talent needed. In fact, many of the fields have actually gotten substantially harder and more competitive in the past 50 years.
While this is an observable effect, how much of this is due to the fact the IT workers themselves automatically assign a female discount to skills and experience if the worker is female and a male premium to the same if the worker is male? IOW, how much of the lowering of the pay and prestige is due to prejudice and biases inside a field versus outside of it? I wonder.
It is also an observable effect that even in primarily female fields, men on average earn more than women — for example nursing is about 90% female but male nurses earn more on average than female nurses.