Statement of Marcia D. Greenberger: Nation’s High Schools Still Operate “Separate and Unequal” Vocational Education for Male and Female Students

For immediate release: June 6, 2002

NATION’S HIGH SCHOOLS STILL OPERATE “SEPARATE AND UNEQUAL” VOCATIONAL EDUCATION FOR MALE AND FEMALE STUDENTS

Statement of Marcia D. Greenberger

Co-President, National Women’s Law Center

Thank you for coming today. Before I begin, I would like to introduce Melissa Barbier, the Director of Girls’ Programs at the Chicago Women in Trades, and Geri Harston, an electrician who broke many barriers to succeed in a male-dominated profession and who now recruits and counsels young women who want to do the same. They have come from Chicago to share their first-hand experiences with women and girls in vocational and technical education, and we are delighted they are with us today.

I would also like to introduce the legal team that conducted the nationwide investigation that we are releasing today, Jocelyn Samuels, the Center’s Vice President for Educational Opportunities; Leslie Annexstein, Senior Counsel; and Emily Goldberg, Law Fellow. Our attorneys are available to help answer any questions you may have about particular states.

Today, the National Women’s Law Center releases the results of an intensive, nationwide investigation of sex discrimination in public high school vocational and technical education programs. As many of you know, vocational and technical education programs include school-to-work programs, job training and other programs that help young people prepare for their futures. We sought enrollment data under the relevant Open Records Laws in the 50 states and the District of Columbia and spoke with many people around the country who, like Geri and Melissa, work directly with girls in vocational and technical programs. What we found was unconscionable. The dreams and futures of many young women and girls, particularly low income women, are being shortchanged.

Thirty years ago this month, Congress passed Title IX to bar sex discrimination in all aspects of federally funded education and to make sure that students would be placed in classes that reflect their individual abilities, rather than assumptions about their gender. But, shockingly, little has changed for women and girls in vocational and technical education over the past 30 years. We found that the nation’s public high schools are still operating highly sex segregated, “separate and unequal” systems of vocational education for male and female students. The evidence is clear – far too many schools are providing inferior opportunities for their female students.

Thirty years after Title IX was passed, boys are still being steered toward classes that lead to traditionally male, and higher paying, careers in technology and the trades. And the girls are still clustered in classes that lead to traditionally female, and lower paying, jobs in cosmetology, child care and the like. As this chart indicates, national patterns of sex segregation, based on data in 12 states, show that 96% of cosmetology students are female, as are 87% of those enrolled in child care courses, and 86% of those enrolled in health aide preparation courses. Meanwhile, boys comprise over 90% of the students enrolled in carpentry, automotive, and plumbing courses. Some states have even more extreme numbers. In Florida, for example, 99% of the students in cosmetology are female, while 100% of the students taking plumbing are male.

Many young women do not make it into nontraditional programs because they are told by guidance counselors that the programs are not right for them. Those trail-blazing girls who forge their way into male-dominated schools and classes are often treated differently by their teachers, face sexual harassment in the classroom, and other forms of gender bias. I will let Melissa and Geri address some of those issues from their own experiences.

To make matters worse, advanced math and science classes and special technology programs are often made available in predominantly male schools and programs, but are not accessible to the girls. We found, for example, a highly sex segregated system of vocational schools in New York City where there were almost no advanced classes in math or science at the predominantly female schools, but many AP math and science classes in the boys’ schools. Special technology programs -- like Cisco Networking Academies, which lead to industry certification in computer networking and jobs that pay between $42,000 and over $100,000 per year -- were placed in the predominantly male schools, but were not available in the schools attended by young women.

The most troubling aspect of this stark picture is what it means for these girls’ futures. The pervasive sex segregation of female students into traditionally female programs will have a serious impact on these young women’s ability to support themselves and their families in the future. As this chart shows, a child care worker typically earns $7.43 per hour. An electrician, on the other hand, makes almost $20 per hour. And a computer support specialist, that is, someone who has been through a program like Cisco’s, can make more than $30 per hour. It is completely unacceptable, in this day and age, that boys and girls are not being prepared equally for their futures or being adequately informed about their career options. There has been a great deal of talk lately about requiring poor women to work even longer hours and about limiting their ability to rely on welfare to help their families through hard times. Clearly, removing the gender-based barriers from the nation’s high school vocational and technical programs is essential to helping these women be trained for well-paid jobs -- for their own sake, and for the sake of their families.

That is why, as a result of these findings, we are issuing a report and filing legal 12 Petitions for Compliance Reviews today – one in each regional office of the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. The petitions request Title IX investigations of – and demand remedies for – sex discrimination in vocational and technical education across the country. We expect the schools to be held accountable for their actions, and to provide a full accounting of how female students are being counseled, recruited and treated in the classroom. Every barrier based on gender must be removed. And the National Women’s Law Center will do everything in its power to rectify this widespread problem, which is having a devastating impact on the young women and girls of this country. We have worked hard for thirty years to vigorously enforce Title IX. We aren’t stopping now and we won’t until every young woman and girl in America has a true choice in the educational opportunities, and the career path, that is right for her.

I would now like to introduce Melissa Barbier, Director of Girls’ Programs at the Chicago Women in Trades. Melissa ...