• A nontraditional occupation for women is one in which women comprise 25 percent or less of total employment.
  
  
• Nontraditional occupations span all major occupational groups and provide many employment options for women.
  
  
• First, growth in the economy is projected to expand employment in many of these occupations and secondly, there will be strong demand for workers in these fields due to projected retirements or transfers of current workers to other occupations.
  
  
• Nontraditional jobs are attractive to women because they generally offer higher entry-level wages and a career ladder with pay between $20 and $30 per hour.
  
  
• Here are some examples of nontraditional jobs for women: detectives, architects, chefs, barbers, clergy, computer and office machine repairers, construction and building inspectors, railroad conductors, machinists, truck drivers, fire fighters, aircraft pilots, construction occupations, and small engine mechanics.
  
  
• Women continue to make inroads into nontraditional occupations. As more women enter jobs that were once dominated by men, many jobs that were nontraditional for women in the 1980's were no longer nontraditional for women in 2002. Some of these occupations are insurance sales, purchasing managers, photographers, physicians, chemists, postal service mail carriers, lawyers, athletes, and protective service administrators.
  
  

Souce: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.