Small Business Glossary and Definitions

Many occupations have traditionally been held only by individuals of one gender, such as nursing and administrative assistant work being granted to women and men becoming doctors and computer programmers. Non-traditional employment is when a person enters a field that is predominantly comprised of the other gender. Non-traditional employment should be encouraged for a variety of reasons, but the employees filling these roles sometimes require additional support in order to succeed, like changing policies that favor one gender over the other. The US Department of Labor calls non-traditional employment any time someone is employed in a role where their gender makes up less than 25% of all the individuals who have that career.