Supporting Success: Expanding Employment Opportunities for Women Avis A. Jones-DeWeever, Ph.D....
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Transcript of Supporting Success: Expanding Employment Opportunities for Women Avis A. Jones-DeWeever, Ph.D....
Supporting Success:Expanding Employment Opportunities for Women
Avis A. Jones-DeWeever, Ph.D.
Institute for Women’s Policy Research
www.iwpr.org
World Bank Workshop II for Gender Focal PointsApril 7, 2005
Contemporary Economic Context
• Today’s American economy faces challenges unlike any in the nation’s history.
• The increasing importance of globalization has demanded a higher level of competitiveness for attracting and maintaining jobs within local communities.
• Skills requirements have increased for many of the nation’s fastest-growing jobs
• Nation is on the verge of a skills-deficit as the baby boom generation nears retirement-age
Contemporary Economic Context
• Impending demographic shifts in the nation’s working-age population will significantly alter the workforce of the future
• Increasingly people of color
• Increasingly new immigrants
• Increasingly made up of individuals from low-income backgrounds
• Increasingly made up women
Contemporary Economic Context
• Given this new and challenging circumstances, several states/localities have begun to design policies aimed at increasing the skills of its workforce, with a specific emphasis on those demographic groups expected to make-up a larger portion of the workforce of the future
• Effort is part of long-term strategy to maintain and expand the economic vitality of the state
• To improve the standard of living for residents
Workforce Intermediaries
• In order to bridge the gap between employer needs and workforce qualifications, several states have put into place Workforce Intermediaries
• Workforce Intermediaries organize key stakeholders and resources in order to help potential workers gain the skills they need while also helping businesses gain skilled-workers
• In so-doing, they implement a sectoral-based strategy of linking training emphasis to local employment opportunities.
Workforce Intermediaries
• Workforce Intermediaries take several different forms
• Employer Associations
• Labor-Management Partnerships
• Community-Based Organizations
• Workforce Boards
Workforce Intermediaries
• No matter the form, Workforce Intermediaries share a core set of basic characteristics
• Mission driven
• Highly entrepreneurial
• Adaptive to changing strategies and programs in order to most efficiently respond to changing labor market needs
Workforce Intermediaries
• States that have been the most successful in supporting Workforce Intermediaries have done the following:• Pursued a dual-customer strategy
• serving both businesses seeking qualified workers and job-seekers pursuing quality employment
• Organized multiple partners and funding streams around common goals
• Businesses• Labor unions• Educational institutions• Social service agencies• Others as needed to design programs and policies for
improved labor market outcomes
Workforce Intermediaries
• Provided services that go beyond mere recruitment and referral• Emphasis to both employees and employers the special
needs and circumstances of the other
• Placed a special focus on meeting the needs of low-skilled, low-waged workers while providing service to all
• Improved outcomes for both businesses and workers by spurring improvements within the public system and business employment practices
Key Stories of Success
• Minnesota’s Pathways Program• A two-year study of this program uncovered that those
participants who graduated from “Pathways”—a program that provided customized training developed in partnership with local businesses and community technical colleges—earned 19% higher hourly wages & 28% more weekly income than those who received only job search services
• San Jose’s Center for Employment Training (CET)• CET trained primarily low-income Latino/a job seekers in
local “demand” industries• 2 ½ years after graduation, CET participants garnered 45%
greater earnings than similar local job seekers not enrolled in the program
Key Stories of Success• Project QUEST
• Provides industry-specific occupational skills training for non-traditional students who resident in San Antonio, Texas
• Training is provided in the following areas:• Health Care
• Business Systems
• Maintenance of Repair
• Service Technology
• Evaluations of the programs have found that graduates earnings increase up to 40% an hour over the levels received prior to training.
• Today, more than 800 students go through the program annually
Project QUEST In-Depth
• What Project QUEST Does
• Determines the skills required to succeed in targeted, hard-to-fill occupations
• Recruits, trains, and develops adults so that they are qualified and ready to fill employers’ needs
Project QUEST In-Depth
• Services for Employers
• Assists in analyzing the skills required to succeed in specific occupations
• Customizes training programs to meet industry/business needs
• Provides qualified, motivated employees who possess skills that are in-demand
Project QUEST In-Depth
• Services for Participants
• Evaluates aptitudes and interests, then helps to match candidates with jobs most compatible to these qualities
• Provides employer-driven, certified training to teach the technical skills required for job attainment and advancement
• Offers support services and comprehensive counseling for both life skills and job readiness
Project QUEST In-Depth• Services for the Community
• Assists business, educational institutions and community organizations to work toward the common goal of workforce development
• Helps attract new industrial and business enterprises by providing a strong, skilled workforce
• Helps citizens achieve a higher quality of life
Exclusively Addressing the Needs of Women
• Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW)
• Nonprofit established in 1978 devoted to training, placing, and advocating for women seeking work in construction and other skilled blue-collar trades
• NEW services over 300 women annually
NEW
• Successfully places at least 75% of its graduates in union apprenticeships including:
• Operating engineers• Electricians• Carpenters• Laborers• Plumbers• Concrete Workers• Elevator Mechanics• Tile setters• Cement Masons
NEW• Provides post-employment support
services for graduates including advocacy and employment referrals
• Offers technical assistance to unions, employers and organizations across the country to promote the recruitment and retention of women in non-traditional work
Barriers to Nontraditional Work• Social/Cultural
• Socialization to traditional female roles
• Unsupportive family and friends
• Negative attitudes of classmates and co-workers
• Lack of self confidence and assertiveness
• Lack of female role-models
• Limited life-experience with tools and mechanical operations
Barriers to Nontraditional Work• Education and Training
• Limited information provided about non-traditional occupations
• Women and girls often directed to traditional training
• Lack of support for sex equity efforts by instructors and other personnel
• Lack of prerequisite classes in the maths and sciences
• Limited access to on-the-job training• Lack of support services—e.g., child care,
transportation, etc.• Isolation and sexual harassment in the classroom
Barriers to Nontraditional Work
• On-the-Job
• Discrimination in hiring, firing or promotion on the basis of sex, race, age, physical build
• Isolation and sexual harassment on the worksite
• Lack of support from some unions
• Lack of support services
Overcoming Barriers
• Train teachers, counselors, and program administrators to support access to high-wage training and employment for women and girls
• Support incentives for training programs and employers that meet or exceed their goals for training and placing women and girls in non-traditional jobs
• Monitor governmental expenditures and policies for job training and vocational education to see that adequate support exists for training women and girls in non-traditional careers
Overcoming Barriers• Train women and girls in “survival strategies” for
working in a male-dominated environment, including how to handle sexual harassment.
• Organize support groups and mentoring programs for women and girls in nontraditional jobs or training programs.
• Educated women and girls about the wage differences between traditional and non-traditional careers
• Work with employers to encourage them to prepare the workplace to successfully receive and train women in non-traditional jobs.