Non-Traditional Careers
Introduction:
How many female welders or electricians do you know? What about male nurses or elementary school teachers? Surprised to realize that it's not many? Often these careers have disproportionate representation in one gender over another. For this reason, these career pathways are known as non-traditional careers.
What is a non-traditional career?
"A non-traditional career is defined as one where more than 75 percent of the workforce is of the opposite gender – or conversely where fewer than 25 percent of the workforce is of your gender.
For women, many non-traditional careers fall into a few broad categories of jobs: Labor-intensive, scientific/technical, and supervisory.
And while fewer non-traditional careers are available for men than for women, these careers tend to involve education, health, and service-related jobs" - Nontraditional Career Paths for Men and Women by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.
The links below provide valuable information about nontraditional career pathways for men and women.
Helpful Websites:
https://www.cerritos.edu/teachertrac/CTE/CTE_What_is_Career_Technical_Edu.html
Includes information on Career Technical Education (CTE): Programs offering a sequence of courses directly related to preparing students for employment in current or emerging occupations. Such programs are focused on training students in the high demand skills needed to gain employment, cross-train for different positions, or retrain for a new career.
http://www.iseek.org/sv/10106.jsp
Includes information on nontraditional careers for both men and women including questionnaires and additional resources.
http://www.iseek.org/sv/Salary?id=10110
Includes salary information on nontraditional careers for women.
http://www.iseek.org/sv/Salary?id=10114
Includes salary information on nontraditional careers for men.
http://www.quintcareers.com/pros-cons_non-traditional_careers.html
Offers information on the pros and cons of nontraditional careers.
http://www.quintcareers.com/non-traditional_careers.html
List of nontraditional careers for men and women.
http://www.workplacesolutions.org/
An initiative of Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW). Resources and services designed to help employers and unions recruit, train, and retain women in high-wage nontraditional occupations and apprenticeships.
Includes helpful information on building collaborations between the education and workforce development communities to help increase awareness of 7th through 12th grade students regarding opportunities in nontraditional careers.
Useful for women and job counselors: Support Information for women in nontraditional positions; advice for women and girls to enter high-wage nontraditional jobs. Has useful links, such as the national JOB BANKS.
The homepage for the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity. Links to other sites that are specific to vocational education as well as general equity issues.
Institute for Women in Trades, Technology, and Science provides staff development, technical assistance, and video and publication materials. Topics include recruitment, prevention of sexual harassment, environmental assessments, employer publications, material related to School-to-Work, etc.
http://www.dol.gov/dol/audience/aud-women.htm
The Women's Bureau is part of the U.S. Department of Labor and has wage and occupational data specific to the needs and interests of women.
The National Association of Women in Construction website contains information on history, members, and support for helping young women join and compete in the trades.
http://www.girlstart.org/index.asp
Girlstart is a non-profit organization created to empower girls to excel in math, science, and technology. Founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, Girlstart has quickly established itself as a best-case practices leader in empowering, educating, and motivating girls to enjoy and become more proficient in math, science and technology.
Girlstart offers a variety of educational formats designed for middle school girls through after-school prgorams, Saturday camps, and summer camps. All Girlstart programs share a common theme of hands-on exploration of science, math, and technology in a fun and girl-friendly environment. These programs are held at the Girlstart Tech Center and in Austin-area schools.
http://www.dol.gov/wb/stats/main.htm
U.S. Department of Labor's statistics and data on the women's work force.
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