Along with that has come a rise in qualifications for lower-level jobs that once didn't require a college diploma.

There are a number of causes for the disparity: More women than men hold lower-level jobs.

He added that many of the lower-level jobs lost in manufacturing could be made up by the retail and tourism sectors.

The women who brought the lawsuit hold middle- and lower-level administrative jobs in an office of about 70 employees.

Earlier this year, the hospital eliminated a dozen top management positions, along with 144 lower-level jobs, and it suspended its heart transplant program.

Each of these industries has a large number of lower-level jobs.

Consider the case of Lisa Church, who turned down the opportunity to run a start-up to take a lower-level job at a more established company.

"If we're talking about the lower-level jobs, it's all done by the illegal immigrants, that's how they contribute," he said.

As computer programs mimic the skills that have long set managers apart, workers in lower-level jobs can do tasks once reserved for executives.

The survey made no attempt to examine women in lower-level jobs.