Being a boy or a girl influences these choices.

Women, who undertake male-dominated occupations, are at odds with the stereotypical role assigned to them by society.

Indeed, when women choose to undertake male-dominated training programs, they soon find out that the simple learning of knowledge is not enough for them to thrive in these professions. These women must adapt to an environment where the codes differ from female stereotypes..

WHY IS SEX A DETERMINING FACTOR IN THE CHOICE OF A PROFESSION?

In selecting a profession, there are attitudes or stereotypes that warrant that trades should be classified based on sex convenience. In some African settings, the image of a man as a midwife is not well perceived. Similarly, a woman bricklayer is considered as a perverse person who is not playing her rightful role. This is also the case with Moslem areas where tradition generally restricts the role of the woman to caring for children, working on the farm and serving her husband. This is why it is believed in these societies that the training of boys is advantageous, therefore more valued than the training of girls who are destined to be under the domination of men. Consequently, a man should always do better than the woman, as a prospective family head.

This means that the boy child with better training will always practice better quality trades while the girl with less training will practice subordinate trades.

Many professional fields are still characterized by their rather sex-specific orientation. Social, health care and retailing services are traditionally dominated by the female sex, while technical or construction fields are patronized by men.