recruiting women into nontraditional careers at central lakes college brainerd and staples campuses

Recruiting Women intoNontraditional CareersatCentral Lakes CollegeBrainerd and Staples campuses

Presenters

Geri PohlkampCareer Projects Coordinator

gpohlkam@clcmn.edu

Kim PilgrimAssociate Director, META-5 Displaced Homemaker Program, A Women Work! Affiliate

kpilgrim@clcmn.edu

Minnesota

Brainerd

Minneapolis/St. Paul

Duluth

Staples

What we do

Career Workshops for WomenCareer Exploration Camp

2000

Pathway to Nontraditional Careers2001

Focus on Nontraditional Careers2002

Who we serve

Single parents

Displaced homemakers

Low-income women

Limited education beyond high school

No high school diploma

Nontraditional in age

Barriers to education

Belief system

Support systems

Financial Situation

Walking through the college door

Negative home life and self-talk

Where we get the participants

Women Work! clientsWorkforce Center clientsCurrent college students who are unsure of their careerPublic advertising

NewspaperRadioHigh school studentsBrochure distribution

One day of information awareness

Two days of business tours relating to the classroom careers they will be experiencing

Two days of hands-on classroom experience

How we do it

Day One:Information Awareness Day

Specific program information is presented

Description of support services available at the college

Financial Aid information

Process of application and enrollment

Days Two and Three:Business Tours

Tour businesses relating to the careers participants will experience on their hands-on days

Former graduates and program advisory council members are used when available

Small group tours – no more than 8 women

Days Four and Five:Hands-on classroom experience

Participants spend six hours in classrooms working on projects and gathering information about each program

Each participant experiences two different careers

Hands-on classroom experience

Carefully choose the instructors

Female when you can

Put time and effort into this part

Participants should be able to take something home from each career area they experience – something they made

First part of classroom day …

Instructors should explain the career

Job opportunities

Placement rates

Expected wages

Where the jobs are

Safety issues

Show and explain the machines and tools

Second part of classroom day ...

Instructors and classroom helpers (former graduates or work-study students) assist participants in their projects. Participants actually do the project themselves. They fully experience the career program.

Welding

Design a project, draw it on CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machine

Program CNC to cut out the design from a sheet of steel on the plasma cutter

Grind the cut-out to smooth the edges

Weld the pieces together

Drawing the design

Cutting out the design

Grinding the cutout to smooth the edges

Using the Press Brake

Welding

The final project

Auto Body Repair and Painting

Students learned about mixing paints and different kinds of paint and fillers

They chose colors and painted sheets of steel

Some painted their projects from Welding

Participants were able to put the final touches on this car that was repaired and painted at the college

Engineering

All aspects of engineering were described via a computer program

Science

Participants mixed chemicals and conducted experimentsHomemade soap was made by some participants

Science

Participants completed experiments with chemicals, dry ice, rocks, and burners

Computer Careers

Computer Careers

Participants took apart a computer, looked at all the parts, identified them and then put the computer back together. It had to work when they were done.

Each participant received a computer took kit

Additional Career Programs

Program participation is determined by availability of instructors and enrollment

options for students

Horticulture and Landscaping

Participants built a retaining wall, planted shrubs, worked in our greenhouse transplanting plants and shrubs

Participants were able to take shrubs and plants home with them. Some made floral arrangements too.

Automotive Technician

Participants learned how to change oil and change a tireThey learned how the transmission works and they learned how the motor worksThe participants were able to connect vehicles to the computer to diagnose problemsParticipants took car tool kits home with them

Mechanical Drafting

Participants were shown the process of drawing a design - blueprints, programming the computer for Machine Trades and making the product that was designed.

Participants took home their blueprints

Machine Trades

Each participants cut out two cubes from a block of steel

Dice were made from the cubes through drilling and grinding

Law Enforcement

Workshop participants learned how to dust for fingerprints

Participants conducted Field Sobriety Tests on each other

Breathalizer testing

Organic Analysis – Crime Lab

Continued Support

We can’t give these women hope for their future during the workshop and then forget about them when it is over

We continue with:

one-on-one support

referrals to the appropriate resources

counseling

career advising

social program information

being there for them when they need someone to talk to or discuss their educational options.

Statistics

110 women have attended in three years60 women enrolled in college (55%)27 women (of the 60) enrolled in nontraditional career programs (45%)

50% of participants enrolled in other career programs or liberal arts program at CLC5% have enrolled in other area colleges

How much does this cost?

2002 (38 women)

$8,360

2001 (31 women)

$6,895

2000 (41 women)

$9,047

Amount spent each year

Budget Items

Where the money is spent. . .

InstructorsBetween $150 and $250 per day per instructor. Include fringe benefits in budget

Cost has gone up over the last three years. Pay is based on average pay per instructor at our college. They must work during their summer vacation so pay is increased slightly compared to their regular salary.

Advertising$150 per newspaper (2 runs)

Used six area newspapers

BrochuresCost varies from about $500 to $1,000

Varies if professionally developed or if we develop it

FoodApprox. $12.00 per person per day

Snacks in the morning, lunch and afternoon snack

TransportationBussing – approx. $500

Classroom Supplies – approx. $2,000

Tool kitsSteelChemicalsPaperPlants and shrubsPaintMiscellaneous, etc.

Career test booklets and suppliesApproximately $600

Inspirational/Motivational Speaker$300 to $600

Funding

Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technology Education Act of 1998 grant funds

Women Work! Affiliate (Meta-5)

College support through staff time and in-kind funds

Private Foundation Grant (Bremer Foundation)

School-to-Work Grant funds

Quotes from evaluation surveys completed by the

workshop participants

The best part of this workshop was:

“A reason to get up in the morning”

“Being with women only was not threatening to me”

“Meeting new people and learning about different careers”

“For me it was taking apart a computer and putting it back together. I never thought I could do that.”

“Welding was the best. I’d never done that before.”

“Being able to do the hands-on projects – not just watching someone do it”

“The teachers had an enthusiasm for teaching and they made sure each person participated”

“We learned through hard work and perseverance, that we could land a well-paying job”

“Visiting the different work places, we got to talk to the people working and they explained what they did. It gave us a chance to experience the business before we actually worked there.”

“We walked away with a lot of ideas about our future making tomorrow look brighter”

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes

Marcel Proust