[EDEQUITY Discussion]Non-Traditional Training and Employment

From: Amy Kuo-Kealoha (akealoha@edcc.edu)
Date: Mon Aug 07 2000 - 16:41:53 EDT


Center for Washington Non-Traditional Training and Employment at Edmonds
Community College was selected by the State Board for Community and
Technical College in the state of Washington to establish a statewide
resource center to provide leadership activities pertaining to recruit and
retain students in non-traditional, high wage training and employment in
the
Washington community and technical college system. We aim to serve all
community members ranging from college department administrators, program
directors, academic advisors and vocational counselors, instructors,
potential and current students from K-14, and graduates in the
nontraditional employment arena.

The purpose of this project was to promote colleges' and students'
awareness
of nontraditional higher wage training programs at 34 community and
technical colleges statewide, and to provide the best strategies to help
nontraditional students succeed. A statewide survey was conducted to
collect data on best practices, barriers to recruitment and retention,
differences in populations served, perceptions of what elements make
certain
programs less gender segregated than others, and identify resources needed
to help colleges meet the goals of non-traditional, high wage training and
employment. Please visit our website and feel free to download the survey
report. http://nontrad.edcc.edu <http://nontrad.edcc.edu>

Our current project goals at Edmonds Community College are to focus on
establishing a nontraditional resource library, organizing the first annual
statewide nontraditional conference, supporting local and national
workshops, and researching, designing and publishing the best-practice
handbook in recruitment and retention of nontraditional students. We
believe each community member deserves an equal opportunity to receive
valuable and updated information for their nontraditional occupation
training as well as academic education from our community colleges. We
believe every student has a potential to succeed in occupations they choose
to be trained, thus we provide the best strategies to help them reach their
goals. We believe training should be linked to employment and every
student
should be able to gain decent wages to support themselves and their
families
when completing classes that are individually customized at our local
community colleges.

Our definition of Non-Traditional Occupations:

           The term, "NTO" is defined as any higher wage paying occupations
in
which one gender comprise 25 percent or less of total population employed.
According to the data provided by SBCTC, the majority of women previously
enrolled in local community colleges in 97-98 appear carrying jobs in the
traditional lower wage field. Men tend to hold jobs that pay higher;
however, they were barely seen enroll in several nontraditional training
programs that link to high paying jobs, such as Associate Degree Nurse,
Dental Hygienist, etc. The following data gives us a good idea of what
traditional or non-traditional high wage programs are according to our
definition above.

                               1997-98 Completers in High Wage Programs by
Gender

NfW NfM High Wage Programs Female
      Male
Total % Female MHWage
x Airframe/Power Plant 3
      89 92
3% $ 12.39
x Machinist 11 170
      181 6%
$ 12.42
x Welding 18 179
      197 9% $
11.86
x Electronics Tech 30
 220 251
12% $ 12.58
x Electrical Equipment Repair
 32 211
244 13% $ 12.60
x Industrial Tech (except electronics tech)
64 270 336 19% $ 12.72
x Computer maintenance Tech
 59 216
278 21% $ 13.11
x Transportation Operators
 52 179
231 23% $ 11.79
                     Engineering Tech 38
 83 121
31% $ 13.62
                     Drafting 53 112
      166 32%
$ 13.26
                     Telecom, Media 30
 55 86 35%
$ 15.82
                     Infomation Tech 432
      547 979 44%
$ 13.56
           x Medical Xray 75 46
      121 62%
$ 16.38
                     Paramedic EMT,Operating Tech
 70 29
99 71% $ 13.89
           x Other Health Tech 179
      62 243
74% $ 12.10
                     Physical Therapy 52
 18 70
74% $ 13.92
           x Med Lab Tech/Histologic 35
      10 45
78% $ 13.74
           x Associate Degree Nurse 733
      109 858
85% $ 17.80
           x Practical Nurse 343
      54 397 86%
$ 12.93
           x Occupational Therapy 52
      8 60
87% $ 12.15
           x Dental Hygenist 89
 11 100 89%
$ 32.79
                     Grand Total 2450
 2678 5155 48%

                     * Median Hourly Wage (MHW) is based on 6 to 9 months
after
college

Why go to Non-Traditional training and employment?

           Because it pays off! The following examples are edited from
Occupational Outlook Handbook published by US Dept of Labor in 1991. The
current salary listed in each occupation might be varied due to inflation
over years; but it still can provide us an idea of the differences between
the traditional and nontraditional pay scale.

Examples of Traditional and Nontraditional Salary Comparison:

                                                              Average
Weekly Salary
Traditional for Women
Childcare Worker $132
Dental Assistant $300
Sales Clerk $210
Secretary $343
Waitress $194

Non-Traditional for Women
Bricklayer $506
Carpenter $412
Computer Programmer $654
Computer Systems Analyst $744
Electrician $524
Plumber and Pipefitter $508

* For information on area wages, salary surveys or labor market, contact
Employment Security Department or visit its home page at
http://www.wa.gov/esd/lmea.

Event Announcement

The Annual Statewide Nontraditional Conference will be held at Edmonds
Community College, Triton Union Building 202 on Feb. 5 & 6, 2001. For more
details, call our Center Director, Amy Kuo-Kealoha at 425-640-1467 or our
centerline at 425-640-1156 or visit our website. You would be able to
download the conference agenda. Our guest speakers are knowledgeable,
influential, famous and popular in the Non-Traditional field. Please join
us for this great opportunity. Registration will be available via mail or
on line in October 2000.

Amy Kuo-Kealoha

Director
Center for Washington Non-Traditional Training and Employment
Edmonds Community College
20000 68th Avenue West
Lynnwood, WA 98036-5999
Phone: 425-640-1467
Fax: 425-771-3366
Email: akealoha@edcc.edu <mailto:akealoha@edcc.edu>



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