Female Funeral Directors LATISHA HENSLEY ENGLISH 2010 LARA ASPLUND Undertaker Louise Ryan. Photograph: Andrew Lloyd/WALES NEWS SERVICE

History  In the mid 1800’s caring for the dead was originally viewed as a woman's role and usually took place in the home  Women were once called “Shrouding women” and were expected to collect the remains and prepare them for burial  Men at that time were responsible for building the coffin and digging the grave  The Civil War was the turning point in the funeral industry, moving towards a male dominated field  Embalming started to be more acceptable because families wanted their loved ones to be returned home  Men started to prepare the remains for burial and later found that funerary services could be commercialized  Women were pushed out of the field due to the business side of things  Women became disallowed from being a part of the business; this was now a man’s job

Facts  Over the years the percentage of female students has surpassed the number of male students  Today more and more women are attending school to become funeral directors  The number of female funeral directors has increased by 38% between 1974 and 2010  The number of female funeral directors to date has not been accumulated, yet  Even though the number of woman has been increasing over the years, this field is still predominately dominated by men  “It wasn’t until 2000 that the number of women equaled the number of men graduating from the U.S. mortuary Schools.” (Funeral Divas)

Comparison between female and male students attending school

More Facts  Family owned funeral services is a tradition that has been passed onto the men for many years  It wasn’t until the mid to late 1900’s that women became more visible in the funerary business  Since then, more women have attended school and graduated  Women have taken on the tradition of family-owned companies (to keep their family businesses alive)  Some women in this field have no family ties to a family business  More and more women are interested in this business and are finding jobs were they can because they want to help people  As of 2010, the number of female funeral directors was 43% and male funeral directors was 57%, women seem to be closing in on the last 7% toward equal division of gender within the field, but again recent numbers haven’t been tallied nationally

Progression of Female Funeral Directors

Research 5 States were researched to find the total number of registered funeral homes today: Utah, North Dakota, Washington, Texas, and New Jersey  The research was done using the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) and the individual states’ Funeral Directors Associations  Total number of registered funeral homes for each state was added to the individual states’ FDA  The 5 states were picked from different territories of the U.S. to show the difference in sectors of the country  The East coast is about even in terms of the number of funeral homes  The West coast and Midwest, like the East coast, is about even in terms of the number of funeral homes

States from different territories Compared  Utah – Home State Where all research started  North Dakota – Midwest  Washington – West coast  Texas – Southern  New Jersey – East coast

Research 5 States were researched to find the number of female funeral directors today: Utah, North Dakota, Washington, Texas, and New Jersey  The research was done using the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) and the individual states’ Funeral Directors Associations  Data to find female funeral directors was only collected from the funeral homes that were registered with the NFDA and with a website  All other funeral homes without a website were considered “unknowns” and no data report could be drawn  The numbers of male funeral directors nationally is only an estimate at this point

Funeral Directors to Date Registered Female Directors:  Utah: 5  North Dakota: 9  Washington: 15  Texas: 74  New Jersey: 116 Estimated Registered Male Directors:  Utah: 96  North Dakota: 128  Washington: 170  Texas: 346  New Jersey: 638

Citations  Rotondaro, V. (2011, March 25). Women funeral directors: starting to dominate the death care industry. Retrieved March 3, 2014, from  Passey Media Design (n.d.). Funeral Homes | Utah Funeral Directors Association. Retrieved February 17, 2014, from  Consolidated Funeral Services (CFS) (2014). North Dakota Funeral Directors Association. Retrieved February 27, 2014, from  FrontRunner Professional (2013). Find A Funeral Home - Listed by City. Retrieved February 28, 2014, from  FrontRunner Professional (2013). Funeral Homes. Retrieved February 28, 2014, from  New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association (2014). NJSFDA > Professional Home > About NJSFDA > Member Directory > Find a Funeral Home. Retrieved February 29, 2014, from  Wales News Service (2013, July 3). The Changing Face of The Funeral Profession [Photograph]. Retrieved from