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TRADESWOMEN OF TOMORROW
Chicago Women in Trades' girls' programs were established in 1997 after CWIT surveyed over 1,300 elementary school girls and 800 high school female students in the Chicago Public Schools and found that they do not receive nontraditional career information. Illinois has recognized CWIT as a leader in nontraditional career programs for girls and continues to showcase CWIT's partnership with the Chicago Public Schools as a model for the state. The Tradeswomen of Tomorrow programs have also received the top rating from the highly competitive Women's Educational Equity Act of the U.S. Department of Education
The TOT programs (Girls at Work, Ninth Grade Outreach, Aspiring Tradeswomen, and the Young Women's Advisory Group) are run by young women with input from young women to create awareness among girls and young women about non-traditional career opportunities, to provide them with the knowledge and skills to succeed in these careers and to support their entry and retention in vocational education programs and construction careers.
Girls at Work (GAW) introduces 7th and 8th grade girls' to opportunities in high-wage, high-skill careers. During two-day programs at 5 Chicago Public Elementary Schools, girls use hammers, saws and drills, often for the first time, to produce wooden key chain holders or name plates. By providing this information to girls at the elementary school level, GAW gives them options prior to choosing a high school and Education-to-Career track that can make a difference between picking a vocational education track (i.e. auto body, cabinet making, machine drafting) and a more conventional track for girls.
Post-program survey responses demonstrate GAW's positive impact. In 2004 when asked "What did you enjoy the most about the Girls at Work program?" girls said the following:
"What I enjoyed most about the program was how it showed us the options we have."
"[I learned about the] kinds of jobs I could get in construction."
"[I enjoyed] seeing that women can do the same thing as men."
"I could actually go out there and show men what we really can do like fix cars and build tall buildings."
The 9th Grade Outreach serves as a bridge between GAW and the Aspiring Tradeswomen high school program by introducing girls to tradeswomen and juniors and seniors already enrolled in vocational education programs. Such opportunities are critical at this stage because ninth graders in Career Academies must choose a vocational/technical shop for the next three years. Many young women will choose traditional courses because they lack the information about nontraditional careers in the trades.
The Aspiring Tradeswomen Program (AT) supports junior and senior young women enrolled in CPS Career Academies' nontraditional vocational career program. The AT Program provides four day-long summits for 40 students from the seven participating career academies. The young women gather for hands-on activities, leadership and team building, problem solving, and to develop and share coping strategies for vocational shop classes. Tradeswomen mentors work with the young women to complete the hands-on activities, answer questions regarding the trades and obstacles they have faced, and serve as tradeswomen role models. (View photos from AT summits.)
