This report, Leveling the Playing Field, developed by the Gender Equity Task Force identifies barriers to the full participation of females in the workforce readiness system and offers recommendations to remove those barriers. Created by the New Jersey State Employment and Training Commission, the Task Force's primary purpose is to assure that "equity" and "fairness" are applied to females who choose to enhance their work-related skills. The Task Force developed the following goals for the employment, training and education system:
* Females must have full access to the labor market;
* Females must be able to occupy high-wage, high-skill jobs and non-traditional jobs;* New Jersey must have equitable education, employment, and training environments;
* New Jersey must have an equitable workforce readiness system that brings about economic self-sufficiency for all.
The rise of the global economy, with its emphasis on an educated workforce, has made the quality and fairness of the worker preparation system crucial to achieving success in the labor market. An unfair workforce readiness system will yield unequal results in the employment system. While some indicators suggest that women have made important gains in the workforce over the past five decades, significant barriers within the workforce education and training system serve to limit the full and equitable participation of females in the labor force.The barriers that impede the progress of females are often subtle and difficult to define, based as they are on traditionally accepted stereotypes of male and female capabilities and preferences. This often relegates women to education and training programs that will lead to low skill and low wage jobs. The wage disparity that exists between men and women is in no small measure attributable to the different educational and training paths each is encouraged to pursue. All this occurs despite state and federal laws and regulations aimed at eliminating such barriers.The invisible nature of the obstacles facing women and girls in the workforce readiness system contribute to the difficult process of formulating corrective public policies. Invisibility occurs in at least two ways. First, because of apparent advances by women in social, political and economic spheres, their needs are not always seen as an immediate priority. Second, the lack of adequate data collection about the pattern of participation of females in education and training programs inhibits informed policy discussions.Fortunately, several important reports released over the last few years document the patterns of inequality in both the educational arena and the labor market. The release of the study How Schools Shortchange Girls, commissioned by the American Association of University Women, has helped to direct public attention to inequities toward girls within the public school system.Recent studies have also concluded that the lack of female workers in non-traditional occupations is not limited to "blue-collar" jobs, but white collar ones as well. Although women have made significant gains at entry levels of management, they have not made similar gains in upper levels of management. The U. S. Department of Labor's Report on The Glass Ceiling Initiative cited a study of Fortune 1000 companies which revealed that while women represented 37.2 per cent of all employees, only 16.9 per cent were represented at all levels of management and even fewer, 6.6 per cent, had reached the executive level (assistant vice-president and higher). The U. S. Department of Labor concluded that there was a point beyond which women and minorities did not advance in some corporations and that both attitudinal and organizational barriers influenced career progress, not just qualifications and career choices.
The SETC's Unified State Plan for New Jersey's Workforce Readiness System established a design for the State to increase the skill level and competitiveness of students, workers and those seeking employment. Key to that design is the creation of an "All Chance" workforce readiness system that provides equal access to all citizens. The Task Force strongly believes that the workforce readiness system has arrived at a new juncture requiring the careful examination of its ability to meet one of the SETC's core principles: to "fully utilize all potential workers."
Recommendations
The Task Force has chosen to begin its work in areas where the State Employment and Training Commission has direct influence over occupational training programs. To this end, the focus of the first report and following set of recommendations is on programs operating in New Jersey through the Job Training Partnership Act, the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, and the Workforce Development Partnership Program.
The analysis and recommendations of this report will help to insure that as New Jersey prepares to meet the challenges of a global economy, its worker preparation system will meet the challenge of providing fairness and equity for females. Toward that goal, the following recommendations are made:
1. All occupational training programs, career orientation programs and school to work programs must incorporate equity into all areas and all levels of curriculum.2. Intake and staff counselors, instructors, job developers, case managers and others who deal directly with clients need professional development assistance in working with women, especially in the area of nontraditional training and employment. 3. Data collection must be enhanced to allow for the detailed analysis of services to women. Information should include at least the following: type of training, number of participants, age, race, sex, placement in jobs and wage rates. Data must be evaluated and service providers must be held accountable for performance.4. Better coordination at the local level among service providers, community based organizations and local educational institutions is encouraged. Plans for specific activities for training women in nontraditional occupations should be included in every statewide and locally planned strategy for serving workforce readiness needs.5. The concept of job readiness must be redefined to address access to child care and transportation in order to fully meet the needs of girls and women.6. The equity staff of the Department of Education, should be fully utilized to assist the other state departments and local grantees in learning about and implementing successful gender equity initiatives throughout the workforce readiness system.7. The New Jersey Department of Transportation should use all available resources under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act to fund training programs for women in highway construction trades.
8. The New Jersey Department of Treasury should take steps to use all available resources to fund training programs for women and minorities.
Introduction
Since March of 1992, the New Jersey State Employment and Training Commission (SETC) has been working under the principles outlined in the Unified State Plan for New Jersey's Workforce Readiness System to establish policies and implementation procedures which will create a state based and locally delivered employment, training and education system. The system will enable government, business, education, and labor to provide the New Jersey economy with a world class workforce to meet the human resource demands of today's global competition.The Unified State Plan is based on four policy guidelines:
* It must be consumer-based and market-driven;* There must be accountability and evaluation;* The core of the system is attainment of fundamental literacy and basic skills; and
* There must be full utilization of all potential workers.
The evolving process of defining and guiding the workforce readiness system has come to a new juncture that requires the careful examination of the system's ability to meet the fourth guideline, to fully "utilize all potential workers."As New Jersey prepares to meet the challenges of a global economy, it becomes increasingly critical to ensure that the workforce readiness system addresses issues of fairness and equity as it relates to women and girls. The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, defines equity as "the state, ideal, or quality of being fair, impartial, and just." Barriers which limit the opportunities and advances of segments of the workforce on the basis of age, race, gender, and other characteristics clearly undermine equity.In January, 1993, the State Employment and Training Commission created a Gender Equity Task Force to assist in building a system which meets the challenge of equity and charged it with identifying the barriers to the full participation of females in the workforce readiness system and making recommendations to remove those barriers. Four conditions are the foundations of an equitable system:
* Females must have full access to the labor market;* Females must be able to occupy high-wage, high-skill jobs and non-traditional jobs;* New Jersey must have equitable education, employment, and training environments; and,
* New Jersey must have an equitable workforce readiness system that brings about economic self-sufficiency for all.
A quote from Plato, provided as testimony at the first public hearing, echoed and reinforced the sentiments of the Task Force in approaching its work:
Nothing can be more absurd than the practice which prevails in our country, of men and women not following the same pursuits with all their strengths and with one mind, for thus the state, instead of being whole, is reduced to half.
Status of Women in the Economy
The New Jersey Department of Labor's Division of Labor Market and Demographic Research projected that by the year 2005 three of every five new entrants to the workforce will be women, and their ability to succeed is a necessity if New Jersey is to maintain economic competitiveness. Yet while women have made important gains in the workforce over the past five decades, significant barriers exist within the workforce readiness system - despite state and federal laws and regulations aimed at eliminating them - and continue to impede the full and equitable participation of females in the labor force.There are still many occupational areas where women are underrepresented. State and federal laws have defined these areas as non-traditional job categories. A job category is non-traditional if 75% of the occupants are of one sex. For example, women represented only 9% of all precision production, craft and repair workers in 1989. Thus, craft and repair employment is non-traditional for women.Lack of female workers in non-traditional occupations is not limited to "blue-collar," manual jobs. While women have made significant gains at entry levels of management, they have not made similar gains in upper levels of management. The U.S. Department of Labor's Report on the Glass Ceiling Initiative cited a study of Fortune 1000 companies which revealed that while women represented 37.2% of all employees, only 16.9% women were represented at all levels of management and even fewer, 6.6%, had reached the executive level (assistant vice-president and higher). Based on the pilot study conducted as part of the Glass Ceiling Initiative, the U.S. Department of Labor concluded that there was a point beyond which women and minorities did not advance in some corporations and that both attitudinal and organizational barriers influenced career progress, not just qualifications and career choices.Despite moderate gains, working women are still concentrated in lower paying, female-dominated occupations in the clerical and service sector. According to the New Jersey State Data Center, in 1990, 31.1% of female workers were in administrative support positions, 17.1% were in professional specialties such as elementary school teacher or nurse, 12.4% were in sales occupations, and 11.9% were in service occupations, excluding protection and private household occupations.There is a direct correlation between occupational segregation and pay inequity. According to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Women's Bureau, the median earnings for women who were employed as year-round, full-time workers in 1991 was $20,553 compared to $29,421 for men (69.8%).The low status of women in the economy stems in part from inequitable practices and policies in the current workforce readiness system. For example, the apprenticeship system is an important vehicle for bringing women into nontraditional employment. Yet, a 1991 report from the New Jersey office of the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training showed that there were 161 females enrolled in apprenticeship programs compared to 7230 males, a rate of only 2%. The 1992 report showed that the number of women in apprenticeships had risen to 163, but still represented only 3% of apprentices because the number of males fell to 5389. This low rate of participation persists despite regulations issued in 1978 by the U.S. Department of Labor which set enrollment goals for females in apprenticeship programs at 20% per class.A myriad of obstacles block girls and women from non-traditional options. Many barriers are subtle and difficult to define, based as they are on traditionally accepted stereotypes of male and female capabilities and preferences. The term non-traditional itself, for instance, can be an impediment for women. Still, the Task Force stresses the need to educate and train women for high-wage, high-skill jobs, and continue to use the term non-traditional. Abandoning the use of the word could suggest that parity had been reached.
The Gender Equity Task Force deliberations have led to the conclusion that the economic disparities negatively affecting women are traceable to the process of socialization which shapes individuals to believe that they are capable of certain activities and occupations based on their gender. This socialization process also defines the structure of the workplace environment which can lead to disparate treatment on the basis of gender. These disparities are reinforced and become systemic through established training methods, institutional practices, bias in the educational system, and basic economic discrimination which both leads to and is reinforced by occupational segregation.
Identifying the Barriers
Making the workforce readiness system more equitable poses a daunting challenge. Early discussions of the Task Force became complex as the issues, causes, and results wove together in an interconnected web of belief systems, socialized behavior patterns, and biased policies and practices which shape and drive New Jersey's education and training system. Testimony, discussion, and research have described the extent of gender bias in the workforce readiness system as pervasive, insidious, and rampant. Gender-based obstacles appear in the early stages of formal instruction and continue throughout the educational and career experiences of women in New Jersey.The invisible nature of the barriers facing women and girls in the workforce readiness system makes it particularly difficult to formulate public policy to remove the barriers. Invisibility occurs in at least two ways. First, because of recent advances in social, political, and economic spheres, the needs of women are not always seen as a priority. Second, lack of adequate data hampers discussion of the patterns or problems of girls and women in education and training programs. Lack of data makes monitoring and accountability difficult, if not impossible. Few researchers are involved in gender analysis of education and training programs at local or state levels. Those who do work in these areas are often marginalized, supported by single-issue interest groups. However, the Task Force has concluded that gender bias is such a serious issue, it must be given full thought and discussion by both men and women who formulate and implement employment and training policies.The relationship among social, psychological, political, and economic influences and their impact on the creation of barriers to the participation of females cannot be overstated. The same attitudes and beliefs which instruct and guide young girls out of math and science classes also steer women seeking job training out of technological fields. The Task Force repeatedly faced the realization that society must move to embrace a new understanding of the potential of all its citizens if this state and country are to truly begin to prepare for the economic realities of the future. Task Force members agreed that systemic change in attitude and behavior is needed to reform an education and training structure in which barriers to full participation are ubiquitous. The scope of the problem cannot be underestimated. While changes must be made throughout the workforce readiness system, action at the primary education level is fundamental to long term success. Women who choose traditional training and career options - frequently leading to low-paying jobs - often do so after years of schooling and instruction which reinforce notions of sex-stereotyped jobs and opportunities.To adequately prepare all students to make informed choices, efforts must be made at the earliest points of influence to present bias-free information to students. Programs at later stages of the educational process that promote equity and encourage opportunities are necessary to reach students who have already received years of traditional teaching and traditional messages about sex roles, but these programs are also faced with the challenge of remediating biased attitudes and behaviors that were learned at an earlier stage. The most significant step toward equity in the workforce readiness system will come from eliminating bias at the beginning of the educational process.The need for educational change is not limited to the primary schools, secondary schools, vocational technical schools or government-supported training programs. In a broader sense, there is also a need for widespread public education, especially among parents, on the impact of current practices on boys and girls. The release of How Schools Shortchange Girls, commissioned by the American Association of University Women and researched by the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, has helped to direct public attention to inequities within the public school system. But much more attention is needed to achieve a change in attitude. Both explicitly and implicitly, the educational system has a sustained effect on the choices girls make for the duration of their lives. How Schools Shortchange Girls clearly illustrates that in most educational institutions, curriculum, teacher attitudes and interactions, and administrative practices still educate girls in a fundamentally different way than boys. The following quotation drawn from this landmark report illustrates the point:
There is clear evidence that the educational system is not meeting girls' needs. Girls and boys enter school roughly equal in measured ability....Twelve years later, girls have fallen behind their male classmates in key areas such as higher-level mathematics and measures of self-esteem.
The Task Force believes that the State must take a lead role in examining and challenging classroom practices, curricula, and other influences which have a negative impact on girls. The Department of Education must effect change through monitoring existing practices, evaluating results, and working with the State Board of Education to develop and implement policies. The AAUW study serves as a guide to future discussions and recommendations to bring about positive change in New Jersey's classrooms for girls and boys. A separate report with findings and recommendations will be issued by the Task Force on equity in education.Recent projections, such as Workforce 2000, have stirred hope that more attention will be given to educating and training women for the future economy because they will comprise the majority of new entrants to the labor market. However, the changing demographic picture of the workforce alone is not enough to shift the balance in opportunity and access for women.Women are at risk of being an even greater proportion of the low-wage, low-skill population of the future. They have less education and less familiarity with technology at a time when more and more jobs require education and technological skills. They are poorer and, increasingly, heads of households at a time when services and resources to this population are being eliminated and little support is guaranteed to maintain a living let alone offer bridges to opportunity.A system that strives to be broadly inclusive cannot merely open its doors and expect that those who have been historically disadvantaged will immediately succeed. As noted in the Unified State Plan:
Indeed, the Commission is fully aware that issues like cultural diversity and equity must be directly addressed by all partners in the workforce readiness system. Preparing a workforce for the next century demands no less.
At least two steps are necessary to create a system which can truly meet the needs of the future workforce. First, the premise of the current workforce readiness system must become inclusive of the needs of women. Second, the system must take deliberate action to identify and correct the formidable barriers and subtle forms of bias that exist for all marginalized populations.Three issues were raised repeatedly during the Task Force deliberations and in the public hearings as critical elements to the success or failure of many women in the workforce readiness system: child care, transportation, and sexual harassment. The Task Force is convinced that child care and transportation must be as much a part of the definition of a job readiness program as remedial math or skill enhancement classes. Each of these issues is a significant barrier to participation in the workforce readiness system as well as in the workforce. While each has received a certain amount of public attention in the recent past, most notably sexual harassment, little has been done in a systematic way to address these three barriers.
The Task Force has concluded that removing barriers to the full participation of females, while difficult, is achievable. However, despite this optimistic note, the Task Force has also concluded, in the absence of widespread, dramatic upheaval in the system, changes will come about through the deliberations and actions of groups such as this Task Force and that the most important step is to simply begin.
Focus of the Report
Much discussion occurred about the first steps to removing barriers. The Task Force grappled with frustration over the need for society in general to move closer to an equitable social, political and economic system - one, for instance, fully responsive to the lack of inadequate child care and transportation resources. While some argued that the educational system has the earliest and most enduring effects on females, it was equally acknowledged that lack of access to training and employment opportunities plays a major debilitating role. In the end, the decision on how to approach the overall task was based on efficacy.The Task Force chose to begin its work in areas where the State Employment and Training Commission has direct influence over the planning and oversight of occupational training programs. Thus, the focus of the first report and set of recommendations is on programs operating in New Jersey through the Job Training Partnership Act, the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, and the Workforce Development Partnership Program. In addition, the Task Force has made recommendations regarding two other sources of funding for the training of women through the Departments of Transportation and Treasury.Job Training Partnership ActThe Job Training Partnership Act provides the largest source of funds for training disadvantaged workers in New Jersey. Analysis of JTPA's delivery of service at state and national levels reveals discrepancies in the training and support resources offered to men and women. The General Accounting Office (GAO) released a study in 1991 demonstrating that while women tend to receive more classroom training than men, they were less likely than white men to be trained for jobs with higher placement wages. Black women were least likely to be trained for jobs with higher wages. Finally, women earned a lower hourly placement wage than men for all three modes of service - classroom training, on-the-job training, and job search assistance.When the GAO examined specific occupations, the results were even more telling. Of those lower paying occupations, 5% of white men, 6% of white women, and 15% of black women were placed as nursing assistants, with a median placement wage of $5.70. Of those higher paying occupations, 55% of white men, 1% of white women, and 3% of black women were placed in an electronics job with a median placement wage of $7.00.In New Jersey, data collection on services to women, especially in the area of non-traditional training, has been limited. The New Jersey Department of Labor's Office of Employment and Training Services has implemented a new data collection system which will allow the State to report these services based on the number of women trained and placed, the type of training acquired, the placement of the individual in a job or apprenticeship, as well as the occupation and wage at placement, the age and race of the individual, and the retention rate of the participant. The first reports detailing this information will be based on Program Year 93 data.In an effort to remedy disparities in services to women, the Non-traditional Employment for Women Act (NEW Act) was signed into law in December 1991. The NEW Act requires states to engage in specific activities to increase the numbers of women in non-traditional training. Under additional changes to the JTPA there is an allotment (8% of Title II A & C) which may be used to carry out three types of projects one of which is statewide coordination approaches, including model programs, to train, place, and retain women in non-traditional employment. The Executive Branch Work Group of the State Employment and Training Commission is responsible for planning how this money will be spent.
The State Employment and Training Commission has emphasized the need for direct and specific actions at the local level to increase the numbers of women receiving non-traditional training in Program Year 93. New Jersey has required local areas to set a training goal of two percentage points above the previous year's performance level for training women in non-traditional occupations. It is expected that this will result in a 20% increase in the number of women in non-traditional training. Local areas have also been required to outline their plans for activities to promote women in non-traditional training. The Gender Equity Task Force has made recommendations to strengthen the current program activities and enhance the ability of the State and local areas to meet the mandates outlined in the NEW Act and raise the performance levels within the system overall.
Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act
In 1990, Congress passed the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990 (Perkins II) providing secondary, post-secondary, and adult vocational education programs with federal assistance for five years. The new legislation greatly expanded job-related education efforts and emphasized service to "special populations," including the poor, the handicapped, the economically disadvantaged, disabled, single parents, foster children, those not properly served because of sex bias, and those with limited English proficiency. Perkins II eliminated many of the set-asides for these special populations but maintained the 10.5% sex equity set-aside under sections 221 and 222 of the new law.The Act requires the assignment of one individual to work full-time to assist the State board of vocational education in fulfilling the purposes of Perkins II by administering the single parents and homemakers programs and the sex equity programs described in the law. The major responsibilities of this individual include distributing the funds under sections 221 and 222; planning for use of these funds annually; managing the grants; gathering, analyzing, and disseminating data on the adequacy and effectiveness of vocational programs to meet the education and employment needs of women; reviewing vocational education programs for sex stereotyping and bias; and, monitoring programs funded through the equity set-aside.Seventy-five percent of Perkins funds are allocated non-competitively to local education agencies and community colleges. Each agency receiving funds must submit a plan for funding which is reviewed and approved by the State sex equity coordinator. The local plan for use of Perkins funds must assess the needs for equity and the needs of other special populations, plan the use of funds around equity and the needs of other special populations, and cooperate with the State administered sex equity program.To further achieve equitable classrooms, the State was required to develop standards and measures of performance. In the "New Jersey Program Performance Measures and Standards for Occupational and Technical Programs," Element 4, Participation of Special Populations, recruitment, retention, and placement are addressed. The measure for recruitment and retention is enrollment data. The standard for recruitment states: "Initial enrollment in program is within 20% of institution's enrollment in regard to gender, racial/ethnic group, and special needs category." The retention rate must be within 10% of the total program rate.While the Department of Education has attempted to address the disparities in enrollment through the adoption of these performance standards and measures, the Task Force made several recommendations for additional initiatives necessary to bring about equity in New Jersey's vocational programs.A Note on the Administration of the Equity Set-AsideAs noted earlier, the State of New Jersey is required to have one full-time individual assigned to administer the grants under sections 221 and 222 of the law in order to qualify for Perkins funding. This person is often referred to as the "sex equity coordinator." The law clearly assigns specific responsibilities to the individual working in this position, some of which have been outlined above. The Task Force is concerned that New Jersey is not fully embracing the intent of Perkins with regard to this position. The sex equity coordinator position in New Jersey must be re-examined and defined clearly to reflect this intent. There are specific responsibilities outlined in the law that the Task Force wants to see addressed and enhanced.The Carl Perkins Act requires the sex equity coordinator to review and comment on the plans of local education agencies, area vocational schools, intermediate educational agencies, and post-secondary educational institutions regarding the needs of women and men in non-traditional training. These requirements indicate that the impact of this role is intended to be felt across all vocational programs, not just within those funded by the equity set-aside. The Departments of Education and Higher Education should provide the data, resources, and authority to fully meet this requirement. This analysis should include programs funded by basic non-competitive funds at local education agencies, community colleges, in the corrections system, those funded competitively such as Tech Prep, youth apprenticeship, and all other competitive grants.
The sex equity coordinator is also responsible for gathering and analyzing data on the adequacy and effectiveness of vocational programs in meeting the needs of women. Beyond the yearly Technical Training Report for Women and Minorities, this analysis is not being done. A more detailed study of vocational programs should be undertaken to meet the intent of the Perkins Act. The Departments of Education and Higher Education should analyze data from each program year for compliance with approved standards and measures for equity. Those programs not meeting the established standards should be monitored and a remediation plan established. In addition, the Departments of Education and Higher Education should require all vocational programs receiving state and federal funds to develop an equity section to be approved by the sex equity coordinator which includes the following: objective measures and outcomes for program performance, recruitment activities, and projected retention and placement rates.
Workforce Development Partnership Program
The Workforce Development Partnership Program was created in July 1992 to respond to fluctuations in employment and the need for large segments of the workforce to upgrade their skills. The State program serves two main functions, providing individual training vouchers for displaced workers, and offering businesses customized training programs to enhance the skills of their existing workforce.Preliminary analysis indicates that the proportion of women receiving individual training vouchers is higher than the proportion of women filing for unemployment benefits. At this time, information has not been compiled on the type of training acquired by men and women. The Department of Labor has not begun to collect information to analyze which workers are being given the opportunity to participate in training provided through a customized training grant.In addition to the initial information collected by the Department of Labor, greater understanding of the impact of the program will be available through a formal evaluation of the Workforce Development Partnership Program. The SETC is responsible for this evaluation and the first report will be available in January 1994.
Even in a program as new and innovative as Workforce Development Partnership, steps need to be taken to ensure gender equity. Counselors and others who work directly with clients must receive information on overcoming personal bias and offering clients the broadest range of options for training.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACHIEVING
GENDER EQUITY
Recommendations
The process of reaching gender equity requires deliberate action by all those who participate in the workforce readiness system. This action must include careful analysis of the current situation faced by females, widespread education on how the barriers are at work in the system and how to move beyond those barriers. At the individual program level, equity requires acknowledgement that past practices have been biased. Existing programs and services must all be examined for their impact on females. Equity is achieved through actively incorporating equitable principles in program planning, implementing model programs, utilizing role models, and drawing on the experience and expertise of those who have been working in the equity field. Equity requires education and support to effect necessary changes, and it also requires accountability.Through testimony and discussion, common themes arose that are relevant to all employment and training programs operating in New Jersey. The appearance of these commonalities underscored the systemic nature of the barriers to full participation of women in the workforce readiness system. The three producer departments (Education, Higher Education, and Labor) must take steps to implement these recommendations as part of a statewide effort to achieve change and open access to all individuals. A mechanism must be established to give the consumer departments (Commerce and Economic Development, Community Affairs, and Human Services) the opportunity to participate in planning and assisting in oversight. Much of the collaboration needed between departments can continue through the work of the Executive Branch Work Group.
The Executive Branch Work Group (EBWG) is the body responsible for implementation of the Unified State Plan. The EBWG includes sub-cabinet representatives of the State Departments of Commerce and Economic Development, Community Affairs, Education, Higher Education, Human Services, Labor and Treasury, as well as the Governor's office.
Recommendation #1
All occupational training programs, career orientation programs and school to work programs must incorporate gender equity into all areas and all levels of the curriculum. Curriculum revisions should be made a priority of all three producer departments. The Gender Equity Task Force of the State Employment and Training Commission recommends:
1.1 The Departments of Education, Higher Education, and Labor plan specific program activities and identify enrollment goals to insure that males and females are equitably represented in all training programs.
1.2 The Departments of Education, Higher Education and Labor require every occupational program, career orientation program, and transition to work program to incorporate/infuse equity activities and competencies into the curriculum. The State must take deliberate steps to incorporate equity into the materials used in programs such as the Summer Youth Challenge program, utilizing available model approaches.
Recommendation #2
Intake, staff, counselors, instructors, job developers, case managers, and others who deal directly with clients need professional development assistance in working with women, especially in the area of non-traditional training and employment. Traditional methods do not expose or encourage women to non-traditional options. Awareness, accurate knowledge, and encouragement are key to expanding career options for women. While the staff counselors working with recipients of individualized training vouchers through the Workforce Development Partnership Program are prohibited from "steering" clients to particular types of training, they may be influenced by stereotypical assumptions about female preferences and competencies, or they may simply be unaware of opportunities for female participants in non-traditional areas. All training must include information on awareness and prevention of sexual harassment. The Gender Equity Task Force of the State Employment and Training Commission recommends:
2.1 The Governor's Coordination and Special Services Plan require local areas to provide orientation sessions to JTPA participants on non-traditional opportunities as part of an overall approach to conducting model programs to train women in non-traditional occupations.2.2 The Department of Labor's Office of Employment and Training Services and the Department of Education's equity office provide local Service Delivery Areas with assistance to meet their mandates under the NEW Act including: information, staff training, resources, and access to national models regarding training women for non-traditional jobs.2.3 The Department of Labor and the local Service Delivery Areas provide all staff who deal directly with JTPA participants with training on how to increase awareness and opportunities for women in non-traditional occupations.
2.4 The Department of Labor provide employment counselors with information on non-traditional training opportunities and be instructed on how to present information to clients which will expand their options rather than steer their direction.
Recommendation #3
Data collection must be enhanced to allow for the detailed analysis of services to women. Information should include at least the following: type of training, number of participants, age, race, sex, placement in jobs. The information needs of policy-makers can best be met through standardized definitions and characteristics collected by all service providers. Data must be evaluated and providers must be held accountable for performance. The Gender Equity Task Force of the State Employment and Training Commission recommends:
3.1 The State Employment and Training Commission and the Department of Labor's Office of Employment and Training Services evaluate local plans for their performance in meeting stated goals and activities to train women for non-traditional jobs.3.2 The Departments of Education, Higher Education, and Labor will include equity as a part of the performance standards for all occupational programs, including the JTPA system.3.3 Evaluations conducted by the State Council on Vocational Education include criteria for meeting gender equity standards and the language of the Perkins Act regarding sex equity in vocational schools.3.4 In its evaluation of vocational education, the State Council on Vocational Education assess services and outcomes for single parents, displaced homemakers, and single pregnant women enrolled in programs funded through the sex equity set aside compared to those in programs using non-competitive Perkins funds, and secondary and adults students in non-traditional training in programs funded with sex equity set-aside funds compared to those in programs using non-competitive Perkins funds.3.5 The State Council on Vocational Education, during its public hearings, request specific testimony on the equity section of the Statewide Plan for Vocational Education.3.6 The Departments of Education, Higher Education, and Labor collect data in a standardized format from all occupational training programs which would include information on the sex, race, and age of the participant as well as the type of training acquired, type of job placement, and wage at placement.3.7 The State Council on Vocational Education review the Statewide Plan for Vocational Education for programs and activities designed to achieve gender equity using common standards and measures available.
3.8 The Department of Labor collect data for each portion of the Workforce Development Partnership Program consistent with the standard data collected by other employment and training programs (vocational programs, JTPA programs, etc.), which will allow for an analysis of services to women.
Recommendation #4
Authentic collaboration is as important to successfully serving females as it is to successfully serving all individuals in the workforce readiness system. The Gender Equity Task Force strongly encourages better coordination at the local level between service providers, community based organizations, and local educational institutions. Plans for specific activities for training women in non-traditional occupations should be included in every statewide and locally planned strategy for serving workforce readiness needs. The Gender Equity Task Force of the State Employment and Training Commission recommends:
4.1 The Executive Branch Work Group develop a detailed plan for statewide activities to increase the numbers of women in non-traditional training throughout the workforce readiness system.4.2 The State of New Jersey, through the Executive Branch Work Group, use a portion of the 8% JTPA Education Coordination and Grants allocation to fund model programs at the local level to train women for non-traditional jobs. The funding of model programs should be contingent on local collaboration between service providers.4.3 The Governor's Coordination and Special Services Plan set aggressive local goals for increasing the number of women trained in non-traditional occupations once the current levels of service have been substantiated by the Departments of Labor, Higher Education, Education, and the State Employment and Training Commission.4.4 The Department of Education provide for multi-year continuation grants in both single parent and sex equity programs, especially those providing training for high-wage, high-skill occupations.4.5 The Department of Education provide funding for occupational training of teen parents by encouraging the submission of proposals for such projects and by issuing requests for proposals which make training of teen parents an integral component of such projects. This could be accomplished through existing program areas such as youth apprenticeship, tech prep, and/or sex equity.4.6 The State Employment and Training Commission require that the membership of Workforce Investment Boards broadly represent the diversity of local areas with regard to gender, race, and ethnicity.4.7 The Department of Education emphasize and give priority to high-wage, high-skill training for single parent and sex equity projects funded through federal and state resources. Objective outcome measures should be established to demonstrate the effectiveness of this initiative.4.8 The Departments of Education, Higher Education, and Labor require programs which train women for high-wage, high-skill jobs to be planned and implemented with strong local coordination between service providers.
4.9 The Governor's Coordination and Special Services Plan encourage local areas to explore the creation\support of collaborative approaches to provide JTPA participants with pre-apprenticeship and pre-technology educational programs.
Recommendation #5
In order to fully meet the needs of girls and women, the very concept of job readiness must be redefined throughout the system. There cannot be good programmatic intent or operation in the absence of quality, affordable child care. A broadly inclusive system cannot exist where there are insufficient transportation services. The Gender Equity Task Force of the State Employment and Training Commission recommends:
5.1 The Executive Branch Work Group collaborate to utilize available resources and plan for comprehensive job readiness services that include access to child care and transportation.5.2 The Governor's Coordination and Special Services Plan require local areas to detail how they intend to provide access to child care and transportation services to participants in the JTPA system.5.3 The State Employment and Training Commission and the Department of Labor's Office of Employment and Training Services evaluate local plans for provision of adequate access to child care and transportation services for participants in need.
5.4 The Departments of Education, Higher Education, and Labor require all occupational programs to detail how they intend to provide access to child care and transportation services to program participants.
Recommendation #6
The equity staff of the Department of Education, appointed to assist in the implementation of the single parent, displaced homemaker and single pregnant women program, as well as the sex equity program, is in a unique position to assist the other state departments and local grantees in learning about and implementing successful gender equity initiatives. The Gender Equity Task Force of the State Employment and Training Commission recommends:
6.1 The services and resources developed by the Technical Resource Center, established under Section 222 of the Perkins Act, be made available to all employment and training programs.6.2 The Department of Education, through its equity staff, analyze data from each program year for compliance with approved measures and standards. Those programs not meeting the established standards should be monitored and a remediation plan established.
6.3 The Departments of Education and Higher Education require all occupational vocational programs receiving state and federal funds to develop an equity component which includes the following: objective measures and outcomes for performance, recruitment activities, projected retention and placement rates.
Recommendation #7
In 1986, then Commissioner of Transportation, Hazel Gluck convened a Women in Construction Task Force to examine the reasons behind New Jersey's poor performance in hiring women on highway construction projects. At that time, New Jersey ranked 50th among all states in the numbers of women working on such projects. This was occurring despite the existence of federal Executive Order 11246 which required all contractors working on federally funded projects to make a good faith effort to hire 6.9% women per craft, per job.While the work of the Women in Construction Task Force did result in a significant increase in the number of women working on highway construction projects, the progress has leveled off far short of meeting the 6.9% goal. New Jersey still ranks very low nationally in employing women on federally funded highway construction projects, especially in the skilled trade areas.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation is permitted to use one-quarter of one percent of its funding through the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) for the training of women and minorities for highway construction jobs. The Department is currently engaged in discussing whether and how to use this money. The Gender Equity Task Force of the State Employment and Training Commission recommends:
7.1 The Department of Transportation, in conjunction with the Executive Branch Work Group, plan to use the full amount available for training women and minorities in highway construction jobs.
7.2 The Department of Transportation, along with the Departments of Education, Higher Education, and Labor, work in collaboration with unions and those who provide employment services to women in planning the use of these funds. The expertise and services of both women's employment programs and unions must be incorporated into any training resulting from the use of these funds.
Recommendation #8
All contracts administered through the New Jersey Department of Treasury require good faith efforts by contracts in hiring women for state funded projects. Each contract allows the contractor to use a percentage of the funds for training women and minorities for jobs in the industry. This money has not been used in a coordinated method to date, and women are still underrepresented on many of these projects. The Gender Equity Task Force of the State Employment and Training Commission recommends:
8.1 The New Jersey Department of Treasury, along with the Departments of Education, Higher Education, and Labor, take steps to utilize these funds for the training of women, especially in the areas of non-traditional occupations.
Conclusion
The American Association of University Women's landmark study, How Schools Shortchange Girls drew the connection between gender equity and our national ability to maintain a healthy economy. This study was the catalyst for Leveling the Playing Field. Achieving equity is an imperative we cannot afford to ignore:
Serious consideration of girls is not merely a matter of justice; it's an issue of economic survival and basic common sense. Today's students are tomorrow's citizens, parents, and workers. It is they who will bear the responsibility for maintaining a vital and creative society. To leave girls on the sidelines in discussions of educational reform is to deprive ourselves of the full potential of half of our work force, half of our citizenry, and half of the parents of the next generation.
Our ability to meet the education and training needs of all future workers will exert a substantial impact on the economy of New Jersey whose productivity and competitiveness demands that we fully utilize all potential workers. Full access to education and training must be available to all.Leveling the Playing Field is an important first step in moving the workforce readiness system towards fairness and equity at every level. The findings of the Gender Equity Task Force identify the systemic nature of the barriers to the full participation of females in the workforce readiness system and underscore the need for strategic action at the State and local levels to articulate and plan for a system which can meet the human resource demands of today's global marketplace and fully address the employment and training needs of women.Making the changes necessary to insure broad inclusion requires deliberate action from all players at all levels of the workforce readiness system. The recommendations contained in this report should be regarded as an essential point of departure in this effort. The implementation plan for these recommendations will be developed and presented to the Governor for acceptance.The Task Force acknowledged from the beginning that the identification of barriers to women's participation in the workforce readiness system was an enormous and complex task. Early in the deliberations of the Task Force, there was agreement that educational experiences, both formal and informal, play a critical role in shaping opportunities and choices for women. Improving women's access to the workforce readiness system necessitates a careful examination of primary and secondary education.Infusing equity into the environment, materials and methods through which children are taught will be a major step in changing the process of socialization which inhibits the development of girls and women. The impact of such a change will be far reaching, not simply for the economy but also for the broader community.
Thus, the Gender Equity Task Force's next work will direct attention to equity for girls and women in New Jersey's education system. A report and recommendations will be issued in late 1994.
Gender Equity Task Force Members
Kathy Spivey, Chair
Dana Berry, Union City Day Care
Frank Bolden, Johnson & Johnson
Joseph Borgia, Mercer County Vocational School
Sandra Carine, Monmouth County Vocational Technical School
Sue Cobble, Rutgers University
Rena Grasso, Bergen County Technical Schools
Mary Hartman, Dean, Douglass College, Rutgers University
Laura Hernandez-Paine, Hispanic Family Center of Southern New Jersey
Marylin Hulme, Consortium for Educational Equity
Honorable Wynona Lipman, State Senator
Dianne McKay, American Association of University Women/New Jersey
Jack Pesda, Camden County College
Ray Pocino, Laborer's Local #172
Deborah Reese, The Work Group
Sandra Schwartz, Highland Park Board of Education
Rosalind Seneca, Drew University
Doug Shearer, General Motors
Mark Smith, Superintendent, Westfield Schools
Deborah Wolfe, Board of Higher Education
Task Force Affiliates
Roberta W. Francis, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Division on Women
Howard Luckett, New Jersey Department of Labor
Patricia Mitchell, New Jersey Department of Education, Adult and Occupational Education
SETC Staff
William A. Tracy, Executive Director
Pat Cooper
Karen Holmes
