Nontraditional Careers

I have chosen a few examples that show what frequently happens. For instance, nurse practitioners and midwives do many of the same tasks that the physicians do. If a woman is going to spend 40 years working with patients, why not choose the better paying career? Though dentists and dental assistants do different things, they both work in the same conditions with the same patients. Many women who have good design skills often choose careers like floral design or hairdressing rather than considering a career like architecture. Women often take clerical jobs when they are equally capable of doing the work of the men working in the next office. And women have traditionally chosen certain fields (like social work) over others (like chemical engineering).

Does the training for higher level jobs seem too expensive? It is only a drop in the bucket when you look at the figures in the charts. If you choose wisely, student loans are the best investment you can make. And over time, salary increases are much larger at higher incomes. Plus, discretionary income (the amount above what you need for necessities) can be invested and will make much, much more than you see in the salary figures. Both of these more than offset the cost of training.

There are many other things to consider in career choice. But, paying close attention to the differences in salary needs to be considered right from the start. The next thing to do is to plan to achieve the highest level that you are able in a given field. Not everyone has the abilities to become a surgeon, for instance. But we know from the statistics that many women who could be excellent surgeons have stopped off at a lower level of training. So, the point is to set a goal toward the highest-level career that suits your abilities.