ABSTRACT
It has been predicted that in the 21st century, one third of the U.S. workforce will be comprised of racial ethnic minorities (Bingham & Ward, 1994). The workforce of the future is expected to open new doors to women and minority groups (Shields & Shields, 1993). It is estimated that 26% of the new workforce will be minorities. During the past 10 years, the largest job sources for African American men and women have been in blue-collar, service-sector occupations. These occupations have been considered traditional in that the percentage of African Americans represented in that occupational field is at or above their percentage level in the general population. A nontraditional career field is one in which there is an underrepresentation of individuals on the basis of race and/or gender (this is defined in depth later in the chapter). For instance, nursing is an example of a nontraditional career field for African American men.
