Women's era in the funeral industry
or at least an era of equal opportunities

By Katarzyna Supa, funeral innovation researcher, editor-in-chief THANOS magazine

The funeral industry is a man's world. This was, until recently, the common social belief.
Reading numerous reports from different countries and talking to women working in the funeral industry around the world leads to the reflection that we have similar experiences all over the world.
Women, although not inferior to men in terms of knowledge and preparation for this demanding industry, still face a 'glass ceiling'. As a result, they find their own niche and specialize in it,
set up their funeral businesses and run them effectively and efficiently on their terms.
In some countries all-female funeral teams appear. Women are speaking with one voice today
- equal opportunities regardless of gender and complementing each other's best competences is the way forward for the industry.

Not only the number of women working professionally in this field has changed, but also their role. Now they are not exclusively in charge of administrative tasks but develop all kinds of functions. Women account for around 20-50% (differs from country to country) of all employees in the funeral industry. Women are involved in customer service, preparation of the deceased, administration, and sales. They are celebrants of secular ceremonies, grief counsellors and end of life doulas. Only about 3% of women are in business management and 18% are in senior management positions. The number of women graduating funeral education is steadily increasing each year. Figures from the US National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) show that by 2022, as many as 77% (and up to 90% in some schools) of funeral profession students were women. It can therefore be assumed that a female era in the funeral industry is coming.

If you would like to learn more about women in funeral industry, we invite you to read whole article in the spring issue of THANOS magazine - you can read online at pages 12-13

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