Marshac's questions is interesting and difficult to find the answer. In Minnesota, the percentage of degrees earned by women continues to increase. The number of bachelor's degrees earned by women in Minnesota increased by 7 percent between 1990 and 2000, compared to an 8 percent decrease for men over the same time.
However, between 1995 and 2004 women's bachelor's degree's in Minnesota increased 26 percent and men's increased 15%.
see
http://www.mheso.state.mn.us/mPg.cfm?pageID=752
I am not sure what conclusions can be drawn if any at this time other than women are graduating from college a lot more than they used to.
DrLLong's comment about no sex discrimination was interesting. I know that people tend to worry more about experience and age. My dentist just retired and DH and I went to the brand new baby dentist the office hired. After all, we shouldn't have to ever change dentists again. He seems so young! We were a bit squeemish, but he seems to be doing fine.
When I was president of our firm, I would frequently hear worries from clients about the experience of new attorneys but rarely a concern about their gender. Of course, being female I might never hear a thing. However, sometimes I have had women call me and ask specifically for a woman lawyer, especially in divorce/family situations.
When I was first out of law school more than 20 years ago I went and worked for an older judge, now long deceased. At my interview he asked me if my name was my maiden name. I said it was the "name I always had". He laughed and said he really wanted to know if I was married because married women don't have enough time for work. At the time I wasn't married as DH and I were still living together. I bit my lip and said no and he hired me.
We got along well even though he called me "dear", even later when I would appear in his court as a lawyer, not his clerk.