careers
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It's been difficult getting into the swing this week, as I'm sure it's the
same for you all. Let this not hurt our spirit but bring us closer
together.
As for this dialogue, I apologize for the silence. I will take the time to
share with you the work of Chicago Women in Trades (CWIT) and my thoughts
regarding girls in nontraditional careers.
We have three direct service programs in the Chicago Public Schools:
1. Girls at Work - this program is designed for 7th & 8th grade girls to
increase their awareness of careers in construction, manufacturing, and
transportation. The main focus of the two-day workshop is the hands-on
construction activity with several tradeswomen role models. Many of the
girls are literally terrified to see all the tools on the table, but once
they drill a hole, they are hooked. The tradeswomen also bring their own
tools and talk in length about why they choose their particular trade. Our
evaluations show that this activity is very effective.
2. Aspiring Tradeswomen Program - this program is designed for female
juniors and seniors who are enrolled in nontraditional shops such as auto
mechanics, sheetmetal, carpentry, to name a few. CWIT surveys every female
junior and senior enrolled in a nontraditional shop to assess whether or
not they are interested in pursuing these careers after graduation. The
shocking fact is that out of 250 female students, only 40-50 are even
slightly interested in the trades. This is surprising since these females
spend three consecutive years in a shop that they do not want to pursue.
This program pulls the 40-50 young women selected from all over the city to
one central location so that they can share strategies on how to deal with
being a female in a male-dominated shop. Many females are one of three
women in a class of twenty-five. They often feel isolated or marginalized
in their shop class. Students who have positive classroom environments are
then able to provide creative solutions to many problems. Many females
state that teachers are a big influence on whether they will even take the
class. Vocational teachers who support women in their shop have no problem
recruiting females. These shops are usually 40% female. These teachers
also have a strong stance on eliminating sexual harassment in their
classroom. I guess this means we need to start paying a little more
attention to our vocational teachers than to our counselors.
I would like to emphasis the importance of providing support to
nontraditional enrollees. The Aspiring Tradeswomen Program is successful
because females who thought they were alone in their enjoyment of the
trades can now be surrounded by 40 other young women with similar
interests. The program also provides adult tradeswomen who talk about
their experiences on the jobsite and it is crucial these adult women
reflect different sexual orientations, racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Stereotypes of women in the trades is still a big reason why young women do
not choose these careers.
3. Ninth-grade outreach - this program is designed and implemented by
the Aspiring Tradeswomen participants. In Chicago, ninth-grade students
must choose a shop for the next three years. As expressed before, females
who lack nontraditional career information often choose familiar career
programs such as cosmetology and clerical fields. In this program, female
junior and seniors enrolled in nontraditional shops speak to freshman about
why they chose their shop class. They discuss the wage gap, the salaries
in these fields and what they like about their shop. These outreach days
have helped with eliminating the stereotypes and fears associated with
nontraditional careers.
CWIT is currently selling Tradeswomen of Tomorrow: An Educator's Guide and
Resource Binder to Nontradtional Career Awareness for Girls which explains
in detail actions and activities that encourage girls to consider
nontraditional careers. The components of the guide are:
*what are high-wage, high-skill, nontraditional careers for women
*why should I encourage girls to enter nontraditional careers
*how do I encourage girls to consider nontraditional careers
*how to find tradeswomen as role models
*how to use role models effectively
and the Resource Binder provides facts and statistics, career information,
and classroom activities. To find out how to purchase a copy you can
contact me at the information below.
Melissa Barbier
Director of Girls' Programs
Chicago Women in Trades
1657 W. Adams, Suite 401
Chicago, IL 60612
312-942-1444 ext203
(fax) 312-942-0802
mbarbier@cwit2.org
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