Women at Work 1970-2010

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A new report from the BLS on Woman At Work gives a fascinating picture of women's lives in America. It includes charts on leisure time, expenditures, fatal occupational injuries, earnings, and much more.

Particularly interesting is the chart comparing the educational attainment of women in the labor force in 1970 and 2010. In 1970, when I had my first summer job, 33 percent of women in the labor force had no high school diploma and only 11 percent had a bachelor's degree. The situation is now more than reversed. Seven percent of women in the labor force have no diploma and 36 percent have a bachelor's degree.

This change has come about as educational attainment has risen, and as more women with higher degrees have chosen to stay in the labor force while less-educated women have chosen or been forced to drop out of it.

Employer Partners: One Key to Success After Graduation

As both CTE educators and employers know, workplace readiness skills are essential for success in the workplace. Students can learn about these skills in the classroom, but they also need experience with real work and real employers to understand why these skills are important and to learn to apply them in the workplace. This means that employers need to also actively participate in the educational system. Successfully preparing students for the workplace cannot fully rest on the shoulders of CTE teachers; employers and the wider community have an essential role to play in the development of young workers.

Time to Get Started on the CTE Completer Follow-up Survey

The 2010 Career and Technical Education Completer Follow-up Survey Web site opened this past week. Once again, we at the Weldon Cooper Center are managing this website. It is designed to help CTE administrators conduct a post-graduation survey of CTE completers to learn about their employment, enrollment in post-secondary education, and their satisfaction with their CTE programs. We managed this survey last year for the first time and distributed results to CTE administrators to assist in evaluating existing programs and planning new ones.

The Value of Certifications

Earning a certification or license gives students a huge advantage in the job market. Many certifications are greatly valued by employers and licenses are, by definition, essential to enter certain fields.