Women urged to seek non-traditional work

Press, 27 June 1983, Page 9

Women urged to seek non-traditional work

The Vocational Training Council is running a threeweek public education programme to encourage women to look for work outside the traditional areas. The council’s chairman, Mr George Peters, said that 54 per cent of women in paid work still worked in the five traditional fields — clerical, teaching, nursing, clothing, or sales. One in three working women were clerical workers. The “Women Across the Work-force” programme, which began this week, was aimed to raise the level of' public awareness of the

need for women to look outside these areas for training and career opportunities. Mr Peters said that the limited career choices for women led to a waste of human resources. The recession had emphasised the need for wider career opportunities for women because economic factors, combined with declining population and the growth of technology, meant there were fewer “women’s jobs” available. Unemployment levels among young women were higher than average. As part of the programme, the Vocational

Training Council will compile a national list of women in non-traditional jobs. It will be available to young women who are interested in working in such fields. The council will also publish a booklet, “Career Options for Girls,” and four more pamphlets in its series on women in unusual jobs. Radio and television programmes on women in nontraditional jobs will be broadcast and the New Zealand “Women’s Weekly” will run a reader survey of women in non-traditional work.