Women take on nontraditional jobs 

As we approach the millennium, shedding stereotypes along the way, here were some of the leading 20 occupations for women last year.

Secretary, cashier, registered nurse, elementary school teacher, waitress, cook, receptionist and hairdresser, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Surprised? No? Indeed, this list contains many of the jobs that have traditionally been dominated by women. And another figure that's old news to women is that they still, on average, make less money than men — about 26 percent less.

However, women's roles in the workplace are ever-changing as their numbers grow in existing occupations, new jobs open up and welcome them in, or they start their own businesses.

According to a 1997 report in Monthly Labor Review, women now make up 79.9 percent of medicine and health managers, a jump of more than 20 percent between 1985 and 1995.

Also, women made big increases in the technical-writing field — an 18.3-percent jump — and in the number of postal mail carriers, a 14.7-percent jump.

Gail Yon of Anderson is just one of those female carriers.

Starting her day by sorting through mail and bundling it up, it's clear that the job involves a mind for remembering details and an ability to move lots of little things quickly.

Then, when all the mail is piled in order in 23 bins and loaded into her customized Subaru Legacy station wagon — with steering wheel on the right — she's off on her rural route around T.L. Hanna High School.

"Good morning. You're a hard-working lady on a hot day," yells out an elderly man on his way to dig the day's arrivals from his mailbox.

Ms. Yon, a former teacher's aid and homemaker, offered a few reasons why women are showing up more as carriers.

As is common practice with the rural carriers, she started off as a substitute for a regular worker, filling in for her on her days off and vacations. After a few years, she worked her way into a full-time job. When she started, there were 13 rural routes, and now there are 27.

She speculated that the business is attracting more women because they're more likely to be able to work just the few days a week while starting out. Also, she said, "I think women in a sense tend to be methodical, particular and precise."

All the lifting doesn't bother her, fortunately. As luck would have it, when it came time to deliver the largest package of the day, a tree was blown down across the driveway.

"It definitely is not a boring job," she said, after carrying the box to the house.

Another area woman pleased with the variety of her job is Ann Howard. Her field is technical writing, where the number of women is increasing. She works for Datastream, a Greenville software company.

She came into the field after starting out as a teacher of math and then computers.

"A lot of people might think it might be monotonous," she said, but it actually presents a variety of tasks. She writes user manuals and tutorials, creates online help and other information to assist software users.

"There's always something new to learn, always a new software," she said. "And to actually see a piece of your work, that's gratifying ... just to know it's your project, your baby."

She thinks a plus for women in technical writing is that many companies allow writers to do contract work, allowing them to work from home. Also, the field sometimes attracts women with English degrees who have difficulties using them to find a job.

Converse College, a Spartanburg women's school, has seen many students heading into technical fields, said Beverly Werner, director of career services.

It's hard to generalize the difficulties that women face while entering male-dominated fields, because so much depends on the individual woman's attitudes and those of the companies, she said.

But it's important for them to have plenty of support in their lives, whether it's already there or she finds it herself, she said.

"Individual employers make a big difference; some are working to make their workforce more equal and supportive," she said. "I think right now, with a shortage of workers in many fields, women might have a little more foot in the door than they otherwise would have — their skills are needed."

Phyllis Bonanno, president of Columbia College, a South Carolina women's institution, recommended that women go into a male-dominated profession with a sense of humor.

"It'll get you through lots of sticky, tough situations. And don't go in with a grudge. If you go in as an equal, they'll treat you as an equal," she said.

Along with working nontraditional jobs for others, more and more women are going into business for themselves.

According to the Department of Labor, in 1992 women owned 6.4 million businesses, which represented 40 percent of retail and service firms. These businesses employed 13.2 million workers.

And "women hire women," pointed out Amy Millman, executive director of the National Women's Business Council in Washington, who monitors entrepreneurial trends.

Half the students in medical schools and law schools are female, more women are in school learning construction, and more women are foregoing business school to go into technical fields to start their own business, she said.

"I went to school in an engineering school. The women that went in the engineering schools — and there were very few of them in those days — they're now major people in their companies and basically write their own ticket."

There are some issues that more working women face than men, and might always. The decision of when or whether to start a family weighs more heavily on women, Ms. Werner pointed out, and working long hours starting out in their careers might have to postpone having children.

And they still only make 74 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make.

But more than 60 million jobs have been added to the economy since 1964, and 38 million of them were taken by women, according to the Labor Department.

Ms. Bonanno, who also had careers in public policy and as a corporate executive, is optimistic about the present and future.

"In fact, I don't think there are any jobs today that a woman cannot hold ... I think the world is out there for young women to take over."