Across Arizona, full-time working women are most commonly employed in human service fields, such as nurses, medical assistants and teachers, and in administrative, customer service and retail positions. Although vital to the economy, many of these jobs may not provide adequate income for women, especially single mothers of young children, to support their families. Even when working full time, single mothers are
likely to be in or near poverty and need assistance to make ends meet for their families. Education is often a limiting factor; only 16 percent of single mothers have a four-year college degree. However, despite the low wages typically paid to Arizona workers with limited educational attainment, there are fields in which modest additional education or training can yield relatively big payoffs. In this brief, funded by the Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona, we identify 36 mid-skill high-wage fields as promising options for workers in Arizona looking for careers that enable self-sufficiency.

Notably, women are underrepresented in the majority of these “promising” occupations. Nearly two-thirds of the fields employ more men than women, and nearly half of the promising careers represent nontraditional occupations for women (i.e., women are less than 25% of the workforce in that field). Efforts to make these fields more accessible and hospitable to women, along with efforts to help women make informed choices about career options, are important to supporting Arizona families and the economy. The brief concludes with evidence-based suggestions on how to support women pursuing mid-skill, high earnings jobs, often in non-traditional fields.

Full Report