Raising Women’s Success in Apprenticeship (RWSA) convened a network of some of the nation’s leading organizations that are working to increase racial and gender diversity in “nontraditional” occupations. This report draws on the work of the members of the network, which was founded and led by WRTP | BIG STEP, and included Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee (AJAC), Midwest Urban Strategies Inc. (MUS), and West Oakland Job Resource Center (WOJRC). With decades of experience between them, these partners came together to collaborate, learn, innovate, extend new models back to their communities, and document their knowledge and expertise for wider dissemination. RWSA network partners break down barriers women face in nontraditional occupations by building more responsive and supportive public policy, industry structures, and program design. RWSA partners also are working toward a new tradition in which women and people of color are no longer pioneers but understood to be essential in “nontraditional” industries. This report celebrates the work, but also makes clear the challenges ahead.
