Nontraditional Careers, U.S.

A person can be considered employed in a nontraditional career if his or her gender only represents about 25 percent of the staff. The U.S. Department of Labor lists examples of nontraditional jobs held by women as architects, computer programmers, computer software and hardware engineers, detectives, chefs, barbers, clergy, engineers, computer and office machine repairers, construction and building inspectors (and other jobs in the construction field), railroad conductors, machinists, truck drivers, firefighters, and aircraft pilots.

Throughout history, men have taken on roles in skilled trades and labor-oriented jobs like construction, agriculture, manufacture, transport, and communication, while women have performed housework, care giving, teaching, and clerical duties. A woman's role was defined by society as being the primary care giver for her family, and men were considered ...