Trades can be lucrative. My two wealthiest relatives never went to college.
That said…the rate of rape in the military is appalling. I live in NYC and right now there’s a big scandal in which top brass in the NYPD are being accused of trading overtime for sexual favors from female police officers. My understanding is that sexual harassment is also very common among firefighters.
So, yes, there are good jobs that don’t require college degrees–though I think you have to have a degree these days to go far in the police force.
But keep in mind that in the military and law enforcement there are definitely downsides too.
Women were involved in labor organizing back in the 1800s; one example was in Lowell, MA. The women who worked in the textile mills formed the first all-female union.
Sexual assault rates vary greatly depending upon what branch of the service you are in. Marines, Army, Navy have much higher rates than the Air Force. Can’t find statistics on the Coast Guard, but my guess is that they’d be low.
Seven years in the Air Force and I always felt comfortable walking on an AF base at night, but I would never, ever, walk around on an Army base after dark by myself. An AF squadron commander I flew with told me that pilots were issued guns in Afghanistan, to protect themselves against rape by service members (not Air Force members). The statistics were that more men were raped in Afghanistan than women, based upon the fact of that there were few women over there. Makes me think that some of the PTSD people experience is because of sexual assault.
Sadly, I believe the percentage of women that experience unwanted sexual contact is significantly higher on college campuses than it is in any branch of the military, or law enforcement, or the trades.
The percentage of women who experience unwanted sexual contact simply by existing is higher than it should be. It should be zero, everywhere, all the time.
But that’s just your opinion. I encountered much more harassment in the workplace than during college. I was definitely in a male dominated workplace, although not the trades, law enforcement or the military. Women face a lot of micro aggressions as well as outright harassment.
I had unwanted sexual harassment as an attorney. Fortunately it was defused and I was able to distance myself from the aggressor by absenting myself and sitting a great distance from him. I kept my distance from him for the future as well. He had a very well known reputation and was married and liked trying to harass as many women as possible. He was almost kicked out of the country club but they settled for suspending his membership for several years after several female staff members complained of his conduct. He was an attorney and notorious.
It is unfortunate that anyone has to consider harassment in assessing career choices.
I googled around too. Looks difficult to compare apples to apples, but when over 70% of women in law enforcement report sexual harassment I think we aren’t talking about a great working environment.
Sure they should, but as with anything, they should understand what they are getting into. There is a reason these fields have been restricted to, or dominated by, men in the past. First, some of these jobs require physical strength that - on average - men have over women (think infantrymen carrying heavy packs, a fireman carrying a smoke inhalation victim down 10 flights of stairs, or pipe-fitter installing a four inch iron pipe over his head). Second, some of these jobs call for physical aggression, and on average, men are more aggressive than women (think a Marine clearing houses in Falloujah or a cop arresting a 230lb man for a violent crime). The good news is that there are a myriad of jobs in these fields that do not require strength or aggressiveness.
There are other factors to be considered by anyone - man or woman - before entering these fields. First, in the military, you will likely receive orders to duty stations in less than ideal locations (Ft Polk, LA comes to mind) and/or deployments overseas. Second,they are all relatively dangerous compared to most civilian jobs. Third, some military and LE jobs can be extremely stressful and result in PTSD. Finally, the work conditions can be pretty terrible, working at night, in all kinds of weather.
I am a big fan of the trades, and know many machinists, electricians, contractors, etc. who make great livings and love what they do.
But note that too much aggressiveness may not be desirable. For example, an overly aggressive police officer may be more prone to misconduct, resulting in complaints, lawsuits, and loss of trust in the police department.
But no one should be sexually harassed at work. That’s part of why it’s hard to compare college with other settings. Much of the sexual assault in colleges happens in social settings, not while on the job.
