I'll weigh in on this...
A lot of it depends on location. For small-town Kansas, the woman who works in day care or at the supermarket due to lack of professional opportunities and limits on education will likely have no problem dating and marrying the plumber, rail road worker, or roofer. But in New York City, the professional woman would not even consider a tradesman as the pressure to find a "successful man" is way too great. There are also far more business and Wall Street type men to choose from. So location often dictates level of education and choice in profession which is related to who you date or marry.
I would say with confidence that women like to brag about their boyfriends and husbands to their girlfriends. It's a lot easier to brag about a guy who's an entrepreneur and started a tech company, or any company, and is looking for VC funding than to talk about their husband that pounds nails into roofs or cuts grass for a living. Just saying.
There ARE women who do go for the blue collar types of guys, just not as many I believe.
Regardless, a man should pursue what HE wants to do and what he's passionate about, regardless of what women think. Ironically, there's a huge shortage of tradesmen in the US right now and the opportunity to start a trade business, get training, and make big $ is huge.