Similarly, white apprentices who completed an apprenticeship program earn an average of $26.14 an hour, while black completers earn an average of $14.35.
These numbers must change.
To understand how apprenticeship programs can better support women, people of color, and others who have experienced barriers to access and completion, JFF convened a group of leading manufacturing, health care, and IT companies and industry associations for a candid roundtable. We were greatly encouraged by what we heard: participants were not only willing to engage in this challenging topic, but were energized and excited to go further.
Creating truly equitable apprenticeship programs means providing the supports all potential workers need to obtain a middle-skill job. To remain effective in its promise as a way for people to climb the economic ladder, it’s important that apprenticeship maintains its reputation as an effective workforce development program. “We want apprenticeships to maintain that cachet of being hard to get through,” said a roundtable participant. “We’re paying you, we expect a lot of work from you. These are competitive positions.”
Below are some highlights from the roundtable:
Workforce Equity Is Essential to the Future of Business
“Talent is everything.”
Equity within apprenticeship programs was more than a moral imperative for our participants—it was a business one: “Talent is everything in manufacturing,” said one representative. “[Equity in apprenticeship] will save our industry if we’re successful. It will definitely save our company. We’re building capacity, and that enables us to compete globally.”
In addition to bringing on new talent, more inclusive programs have also led to happier workers throughout companies. “Job satisfaction across the board has increased,” said the participant.
Wraparound Supports, Such as Transportation, Are Key to Equitable Access
“Getting there is the first step to having the opportunity.”
Key to an equitable program are wraparound supports, or systems that can assist workers in overcoming barriers such as transportation, child care, and substance abuse.
One participant noted that work sites may be far from public transportation, an obstacle that can prevent many potential workers from even applying for a job. “Getting there is the first step to having the opportunity,” the participant said.
“As a business, it’s hard to figure out how to pay for wraparound services,” said a health care system representative. “But if you bring people into the apprenticeships [without them], they will fail.”
Wide Representation Brings Wide Applicants
“When you don’t see yourself represented outside of yourself, you feel invisible.”
Many sectors, such as tech and the skilled trades, have to compete against a perception that jobs in those fields are primarily for white men. “When you don’t see yourself represented outside of yourself, you feel invisible,” said a manufacturing representative.
Companies had addressed this challenge by using more diverse imagery in their recruiting and marketing materials and by bringing women and people of color with them while recruiting in-person to speak with potential applicants.
Additionally, businesses are finding that by partnering with local school systems to generate interest in their career paths, they are appealing to a wider set of future workers. “The earlier we start with career awareness, the more diverse we become,” said an attendee.
Contract Requirements Limit Who Can Work
“These success factors start at the top.”
Participants discussed the barriers erected from government contracts, where employees are often required to have a four-year degree. “These success factors start at the top, with requirements for who is eligible for a job,” noted an attendee. “For my workforce, four-year degrees are a barrier to diversity,” said another.
An effective public procurement process that one company experienced was a requirement to have certain percentages of their workers reside in specific counties, zip codes, or be from disadvantaged communities.
Internal Buy-In Takes Multipronged Approaches
“Until you’ve had that ‘I’ve never thought about that’ experience, you won’t relate to it.”
Internal buy-in is key for any organizational change, and infusing equity in apprenticeship programs is no different. Many companies found “diversity dialogues” to be an effective way of building trust, connecting coworkers on a personal and human level, and learning about different experiences.
“As a manager, you have to educate yourself,” said a participant. “Until you have that ‘I’ve never thought about that’ experience, you won’t relate to it.”
A representative from a global pharmaceutical company shared that they held their managers accountable through a stepped infrastructure rollout. First, the company surveyed staff with questions such as “Do you feel you can speak up without retribution?” They then connected these surveys to manager assessments and, ultimately, to executive compensation.
Measuring Success
“If you don’t measure it, you can’t change it.”
One company representative was surprised to learn that an office they thought would outperform all others in terms of achieving equity was far behind. “If you don’t measure it, you can’t change it,” the representative said.
To measure the success of their equity efforts, companies looked beyond the demographic numbers and into performance. “It’s about tenure, did they move up, how long did it take them to move up, where are they moving up,” said an attendee. “This showed us what was working well and what we needed to work on.”
“We looked at every data point—what story is it telling. Not what story are we telling on our website, what story is the data telling.”
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Our goal at JFF is to support high-quality apprenticeship programs while opening access to people of all races, genders, ages, and abilities. This summer, we will be releasing a report on our findings from this roundtable as well as from dozens of in-depth interviews with companies across the nation in an effort to move this goal forward.
Sign up for our email list to ensure you receive the findings as soon as they are published. With your help, we can start to close the income gap and provide new opportunities and economic advancement for all workers across the nation.
