Breaking Through

Women’s participation in the workforce, and their role in the workplace, has changed significantly over the last 100 years.

Breaking Through tells the stories of twenty women who challenge convention about appropriate careers for women and demonstrate that family friendly work practices and supportive workplace cultures are crucial in enabling women to reach their potential and advance their careers.

Their stories demystify a range of non-traditional roles for women and will inspire more women to break down barriers to jobs perceived as the preserve of men.

The NSW public sector offers many opportunities for women in non-traditional occupations. The women in these occupations perform many roles including; forensic analysis of major crime scenes to planning for roads and bridges across NSW; from train network security to growing harvests from stem cuttings; and from keeping the community safe from bush fires to developing a vision for the State’s ICT infrastructure.

Breaking Through will encourage a new generation of women to think broadly and boldly about the career paths open to them.

Breaking Through: Stories of Women in non-traditional occupations (P2011_002)