Some professions have been more successful than others at changing the perception of jobs once dominated by a single gender, but more needs to be done.

While change is coming slowly to fields like nursing and firefighting, the process has been underway for much longer in the local police force.

Waterloo Regional Police Service Staff-Sgt. Marion Morrisson was hired by the force 26 years ago. She decided to become an officer in high school after talking to a female recruiter.

At the time, she says "There were issues. There was a lack of acceptance because of our gender, but it's one of those things you can wallow in it or you can move on and work hard. And that's what I ended up doing."

She says it wasn't any easier getting acceptance from the public.

On her first assignment walking the beat in downtown Kitchener a woman approached her and "She's looking at my equipment and she said, 'Oh, you're wearing a gun.' I thought it was odd, she said 'Well I didn't think they issued guns to female officer.'"

But since then there have been a lot of changes, according to Morrison.

"You will go to a branch if you're qualified to do the job and we see it in our, you know, domestic violence branch, major case unit, it's not based on gender. They're putting you there because you have the skill set."

After the local police departments amalgamated in 1973 the first female officers were hired in 1975. That first year seven women were hired, making up 12 per cent of new hires.

Last year women made up 29 per cent of new hires and 159 of the 754 officers in the service are women.

That works out to about 21 per cent of officers, and is equivalent to the national average. However, only five per cent of senior officers are female in Waterloo Region compared to 14 per cent nationally.

WRPS Sgt. Gzme Dietrich is an 11-year veteran who has worked in patrol, detectives and human resources.

"For the service it's important that we are reflective of our community and we want to be," she says. "That includes hiring and having more women on staff."

But there is some disagreement over what would help to improve equality in professions dominated by one gender.

Wilfrid Laurier University economist Tammy Schirle says hiring quotas could help achieve equality.

"That's what affirmative action is meant to say, those quotas are meant to say look 50 per cent of your applicants are women, 50 per cent of your hires should be women," she says.

But University of Waterloo economist Kathleen Rybcznski doesn't think quotas are the answer in any profession.

"If you fix that quota then there's the concern, and you may have all sorts of negative feedback and anger about reverse discrimination that you could be lowering productivity."

Whatever approach is taken, Morrisson says women shouldn't be discouraged by the numbers.

"I suppose if someone did ask me, ‘Do you expect difficulty because of the gender?' No. You just work hard. Do your job and learn as much as you can and it will never be an issue."

For more information on careers and gender visit:

http://www.statscan.gc.ca/
http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/
http://www.forbescustom.com/diversity.html