Announcing the First Advancing Equity in CTE Interactive Resource Review: A Resource in Honor of International Women's Day

Want to read ground-breaking articles on equity topics? Share insights with knowledgeable colleagues? Well, now you can by participating in the Advancing Equity in CTE Interactive Resource Review! Each month we’ll post a thought-provoking article, vetted by our equity team, for you to read, contemplate, and then post your reactions and thoughts. We’ll all learn new things as we benefit from one another’s expertise.

How it works: Click the link to read our featured article. Once you’ve completed it, return to this page and share your take-aways, post a question, or start a group discussion in the resource review thread. As an added bonus this month, staff from the National Coalition for Women & Girls in Education, who authored the article, will participate in the conversation.

March Article: Career and Technical Education: A Path to Economic Growtha chapter from Title IX at 45: Advancing Opportunity Through Equity in Education.

The National Coalition for Women & Girls in Education is a nonprofit organization established to educate the public about issues concerning equal rights for women and girls in education, monitor the enforcement and administration of current legislation, and conduct and publish research and analysis of issues concerning equity in education. For over 40 years, NCWGE has played a role in developing national education policies that benefit all students; providing a valuable forum to share information and strategies to advance educational equity; advocating for women and girls regarding educational issues, including the enforcement of Title IX; and monitoring the work of Congress and federal agencies on education policies and programs.

In coordination with the 45th anniversary of Title IX, NCWGE released its latest research report, Title IX at 45: Advancing Opportunity Through Equity in Education. Each chapter explores the coalition's findings on the persistent barriers women and girls face in education and the historic impact of Title IX. Chapter 2, Career and Technical Education: A Path to Economic Growth, explores women and girls’ achievements in career and technical education since the passage of Title IX, but emphasizes how much work still needs to be done to achieve equity in the field. The chapter also discusses how expanding access to technical occupations can help to shrink the gender wage gap. NCWGE's recommendations urge policymakers as well as school officials to take the necessary steps to ensure women can gain the knowledge and skills required to enter higher-paying, “nontraditional” occupations for women, defined as those in which less than 25 percent of the workforce is female.

Comments

One of the report's conclusions is that:  "Although women have made advances in career and technical education (CTE) since the passage of Title IX, they are still largely restricted to lower-wage fields."  Within the 16 career clusters, women dominate in enrollment in health science and human services, but lag in architecture and construction, IT, manufacturing, and transportation and logistics. And, in the middle-school occupations in the workforce, women are concentrated in fields such as child care, preschool education, home care, and hairdressing—all occupations with low median earnings for full-time work. 

Is this what you see in your schools and communities? How can equity efforts help address these disparities?