ARTICLES

Nontraditional Employment for Women

According to the article written by the Labor Market Information Division (LMID)published on March 23, 2007, today, women in California can hold any job.  However, it is not always the case that they do.  There are over 200 occupations in California where women comprise 25 percent or less of total employment.  Although many of these "nontraditional jobs" are in the construction and manufacturing industries, the reality is nontraditional occupations span all major occupational groups in all industries.  And these nontraditional jobs are often skilled or technical and typically have a higher rate of pay than jobs traditionally held by women, such as, child care workers, typists, maids and housekeepers, and general office clerks.

Women are free to follow their own personal needs, interests, aptitudes, and values as they look into the diverse workforce of the future.  The considerably higher pay for nontraditional occupations can help women to:

  *  attain economic self-sufficiency
  *  support their families
  *  build assets

Please see the LMID article at http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/article.asp?ARTICLEID=657 for a sampling of nontraditional occupations for women in California with good employment outlook (1,000 or more openings per year through 2014) and a 2006 median hourly wage of $15.00 or more.  In addition, the article has a link to the full data extracted from the 2000 Census of Population and Housing, Equal Employment Opportunity file for California.

The "LMI e-Newsletter" is a product of the Labor Market Information Division of the California Employment Development Department.  LMID regularly collects, analyzes, and publishes information about California's labor market.  These data are available on the LaborMarketInfo Web site at http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/, a section of the EDD Web site at http://www.edd.ca.gov/

For more information contact:

Idania Reyes, WIT Program Coordinator
Technical Arts Building, Room 104B
Monday - Thursday 8:30am - 4:30pm
(310) 660-6780
ireyes@elcamino.edu