While women make up half of the workforce in the United States, they made up two thirds of the workforce in the 40 lowest-paying occupations in 2021, jobs like retail workers, servers and childcare workers. Women often encounter barriers when entering nontraditional career paths, such as technical and engineering jobs, which are among the highest-paying occupations in the United States. Access to these higher-paying fields would help lift low-income women out of poverty and promote gender equity in the workforce. Recognising the importance of addressing gender inequity, the US Government established the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) grant in 1992. WANTO aims to assist employers in recruiting, training, and retaining women in non-traditional occupations.
WANTO Grant – United States
Abstract
In 2023, the US Department of Labor (DOL) allocated USD 5 million to fund up to 14 WANTO grants aimed at enhancing women’s representation in industries where they are typically underrepresented, including construction, transportation, information technology, manufacturing, and cybersecurity. The overarching objective of the programme is to dismantle barriers and establish equitable pathways for women to excel in non-traditional occupations. The programme targets diverse subgroups of women, including low-income women, women of colour, veterans, previously incarcerated women, refugees, and single mothers.
More specifically, organisations and institutions can receive a grant to implement technical assistance activities to enhance women’s access to Registered Apprenticeship (RA) programmes in nontraditional sectors. These activities include the development of pre‑apprenticeship programmes and skills trainings, provision of ongoing guidance to employers and unions, and establishment of support groups and building networks to bolster women’s retention and advancement. Recipients can allocate up to 15% of their funds to supportive services such as childcare, housing, transportation, and job-related tuition costs, to ensure that women are able to participate in the technical assistance activities. In order to implement the technical activities, recipients often collaborate with various partners including education and training providers, workforce intermediaries, employers, industry associations, supportive services providers, and unions.
The WANTO grant, which saw six organisations receiving a combined total of USD 4.1 million in 2020, has undergone multiple evaluations over the years. Findings show its effectiveness in supporting women’s participation in Registered Apprenticeship programmes. By educating employers and unions on fostering supportive environments and providing essential services for women, WANTO has proven beneficial in enhancing their retention and advancement in nontraditional occupations. Women themselves remark that WANTO recipients helped them build their basic skills and manage expectations about nontraditional occupations. A study from 2005 underscores the positive impact of WANTO activities on women’s employment outcomes, with participants more likely to secure better-paying nontraditional jobs compared to their counterparts without access to such programmes. To further optimise effectiveness for programmes like WANTO, efforts should focus on providing women with more information and conducting targeted outreach initiatives.
This practice also supports the implementation of provisions II.4 and II.7 of the OECD Recommendation on Creating Better Opportunities for Young People (OECD, 2022[1]).
Further reading
[2] Butrica, B., D. Kuehn and M. Sirois (2023), Women in Apprenticeships and Nontraditional Occupations in the United States, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OASP/evaluation/pdf/WANTO-knowledge-report-508.pdf.
[3] Mastracci, S. (2005), “Persistent Problems Demand Consistent Solutions: Evaluating Policies to Mitigate Occupational Segregation by Gender”, Review of Radical Political Economics, Vol. 37/1, pp. 23-38, https://doi.org/10.1177/0486613404272326.
[4] National Women’s Law Center (2023), Hard Work Is Not Enough - Women in low-paid jobs, https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/%C6%92.NWLC_Reports_HardWorkNotEnough_LowPaid_2023.pdf.
[1] OECD (2022), Recommendation of the Council on Creating Better Opportunities for Young People, https://legalinstruments.oecd.org/en/instruments/OECD-LEGAL-0474.
[5] Reed, D. et al. (2012), An Effectiveness Assessment and cost-benefit analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 states, https://clear.dol.gov/study/effectiveness-assessment-and-cost-benefit-analysis-registered-apprenticeship-10-states-reed-et.
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