about hard hatted women (hhw)

About Hard Hatted Women (HHW)

OUR MISSION:

To empower women to achieve economic independence, by creating workplace

diversity in trade and technical careers.

Hard Hatted Women

• Founded in 1979 by 3 women - a steelworker, truck driver and a telephone repair technician

• HHW today is recognized for its leadership in helping women and girls explore, pursue and excel in high wage, nontraditional careers

Nontraditional = any career with 25% or less

of one gender (defined by USDOL)

Why HHW?Building strong families and communities

• 80% of women are clustered in 20 of 420 occupational fields. (source: Women Work!)

• In 2007, more than 50% of poor families in the U.S. were headed by single women. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau

• Nontraditional employment for women is an “underutilized but effective strategy” for addressing poverty (Source: The Center for Women’s Welfare, The Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies)

HHW empowers women and families to escape the poverty trap.

HHW Results

• Creation, testing and replication of national best practices

• Since 1992 HHW has trained over 500 women– Women come to HHW with little experience and few skills– 2/3 are single parents, over half are low-income, highly diverse– Graduates today are electricians, highway maintenance workers,

landscapers, laborers, carpenters, salt miners, engineers, iron workers, bricklayers, truck drivers and in many other fields.

• In 2007 HHW extended its services throughout Ohio

Why Specialized Recruitment?

• An aging workforce in skilled trades• Traditional worker not entering skilled trades • Planned retirement, slowed by economy, will

happen dramatically as economy improves.

• National stimulus investments are increasing the need for trained and skilled workers

• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act• Emerging green economy• Diversity requirements and enforcement tightened

Reaching untapped labor pools

Get your energy workforce ahead of the game– Understand the challenges– Dedicate resources– Build strong alliances

Understand the Challenges

• Recognize the barriers women face. • Lack of knowledge about nontraditional careers• Lack of skill base to be successful (especially in math).• Practical problems to being successful on the job

» transportation, child care and elder care issues • Concern about hiring biases and sexual harassment • Steadiness of work (last hired/first laid off)• Isolation on the job

– Free HHW Toolkit for recruitment and retention of women in skilled trades, available at www.hardhattedwomen.org

Dedicate Resources

• Start early: Conduct outreach at middle and high school level.

• Outline wages and benefits, including retirement• Target recruitment/ materials

– Represent women in recruiting materials/brochure– Show women the connection between their work and its

community value. • e.g. being a line technician brings electricity to homes;

electricity brings warmth, food, and comfort.– Use female and minority role model speakers

Dedicate Resources

• If you have female & minority workers in targeted fields, let them be your spokespeople!

• Create or support mentorship programs, with company employees if possible– Mentors can “talk them off the wall” or provide guidance

through a career pathway– Women have stated this is one of the most important

services they value

Build Strong Alliances

• Partner with your local Workforce Investment Board (WIB)• Partner with community agencies

• Tradeswomen organizations like HHW• YWCA, Job Corps, Community Action Agencies, Youth

Build, churches can connect you to untapped labor pools• Communicate your commitment to gender diversity to

training providers, including:• Adult technical and joint vocational schools• Community colleges and others

Model Partnership: American Electric Power and HHW

• Pilot to recruit 2 women into a power technology internship – HHW helps AEP’s HR department tailor recruitment

materials and efforts, and to implement strategies– AEP recruits mentors; HHW trains mentors– HHW provides supportive services as needed

• Working with two universities in targeted region

Other Resources

• Hard Hatted Women

http://www.hardhattedwomen.org/links.asp• Wider Opportunities for Women

http://www.wowonline.org/• Tradeswomen Now and Tomorrow

http://www.tradeswomennow.org/• US DOL Women’s Bureau

http://www.dol.gov/wb/

THANK YOU!

For more information contact

Terri Burgess Sandu

Executive Director, Hard Hatted Women

Phone: 216-861-6500, ext. 14

Email: tsandu@hardhattedwomen.org