Women in Non-traditional Occupations and Fields of Study - ARCHIVED

The situation of women in Canadian society and in the labour market has undergone a massive shift over the past few decades. Women now account for the majority of university graduates; the gender gap in labour market participation in 2009 narrowed to a small fraction of its size in 1976; and increasingly, women are found in non-traditional occupations and fields of study. That being said, there still are many occupations that reflect historical gender roles. That is because fundamental societal shifts like these typically take place over an extended period of time, reflecting changes in behaviours of successive cohorts of young people.

This article takes stock of changes that have taken place over time in the occupations held by women in the labour market and in the fields of study they are choosing at the postsecondary level. It demonstrates where changes have occurred and suggests where change may happen in future as a result of shifts in the composition of postsecondary education graduates.