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

Does the Workforce Intermediary Strategy Seem Applicable to Your

Needs?

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.