Nontraditional Jobs For Women
A Panel Discussion
October 8, 2013

At our next branch dinner, we will host a discussion by a panel of women who have embraced jobs that are typically not performed by women. Please come and meet Christine Schryver, the First Firewoman in Rochester, a woman engineer from RIT, a female zookeeper and a car saleswoman. Hear from their own perspective why they chose their “unusual” fields, what kinds of barriers they hurdled and suggestions on how we can encourage the next generation of young women to explore nontraditional career choices.

When I was a young girl going to elementary school, our class had a discussion about what we were going to be when we grew up. The boys had ideas like fireman, policeman, doctor, lawyer, astronaut and engineer. We girls on the other hand focused more on nurse, teacher, mother and secretary. The good news is that things have changed! Now there are women in all types of careers that in the past were typically dominated by men. Although women have made significant progress, there still remain a significant number of high-paying jobs in which women are underrepresented.

According to the US Department of Labor, a nontraditional occupation for women is one in which women comprise 25 percent or less of total employment. These jobs generally offer higher entry-level wages and a career ladder with pay between $20 and $30 per hour. Earning higher wages is certainly one factor, but why do some women choose to work in non-traditional occupations while others don’t?

Hope to see you there!