Apprenticeship and other forms of work-based learning are important tools for helping workers acquire skills employers need. To reach the most workers and businesses, more work needs to be done to diversify the apprenticeship pipeline to include more women, low-wage workers, and parents of young children.
Child care costs can make pre-apprenticeship programs nearly impossible for women and parents. Together with a lack of occupational skills training and unfamiliarity with job sites or industry, apprenticeships can seem out of reach – particularly for populations that have had less access to apprenticeships.
Programs that provide access to child care and pre-apprenticeship training can open the door for women, parents, and people who might have never considered an apprenticeship.
The NSC's Broadening the Apprenticeship Pipeline report provides:
- 11 Components of successful pre-employment programs
- A case study from a pre-apprenticeship program in Biloxi, Mississippi
- Three recommendations for states, and Congress, to address the needs of a more inclusive apprenticeship pipeline
Read the full report to learn more about how your program can take steps to create more inclusive apprenticeship programs. What other components do you think are needed to create strong pre-apprenticeship programs? Do you know of other examples of programs like the one in Biloxi? Share your thoughts with us, and help us work to build opportunities for more women, and mothers, to become apprentices.
Best,
Mike Cruse
Career Pathways Moderator
michaelcruse74@gmail.com