New Resources to Expand Quality Apprenticeship Programs - The Annie E. Casey Foundation

New Resources to Expand Quality Apprenticeship Programs

Posted September 5, 2019
By the Annie E. Casey Foundation
Quality apprenticeships help young people connect with economic opportunity

For many peo­ple — espe­cial­ly res­i­dents in low-income com­mu­ni­ties and peo­ple of col­or — four-year edu­ca­tion­al insti­tu­tions are too cost­ly or too dif­fi­cult to man­age with work and home life.

Appren­tice­ship pro­grams have emerged as a promis­ing alternative.

When exe­cut­ed well, appren­tice­ships allow peo­ple to earn cre­den­tials and a pay­check while train­ing along­side skilled men­tors — an arrange­ment that cre­ates equi­table path­ways in grow­ing fields of work, such as health care, hos­pi­tal­i­ty and technology.

Below are resources, fund­ed by the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion, that offer insights and advice on expand­ing appren­tice­ship pro­grams so that more Amer­i­cans can gain the expe­ri­ences and con­nec­tions need­ed to thrive in today’s chang­ing economy.

Cen­ter on Wis­con­sin Strat­e­gy (COWS): Build­ing equi­table apprenticeships

A pol­i­cy brief by the research group COWS draws on case stud­ies from Cal­i­for­nia, Mon­tana and Wis­con­sin to offer rec­om­men­da­tions for build­ing equi­table appren­tice­ship pro­grams that expand career oppor­tu­ni­ties for women and peo­ple of col­or. Tips include:

  • Pri­or­i­tize equi­ty. Account for entry bar­ri­ers that peo­ple of col­or and women face and make spe­cial efforts to recruit them.
  • View race, eth­nic­i­ty, gen­der and lived expe­ri­ence as strengths. Rec­og­nize that a diverse staff can bet­ter con­nect with the cul­ture and expe­ri­ences of the peo­ple they serve.
  • Con­cen­trate on appren­tice­ships that lead to a career. Ensure par­tic­i­pants are con­nect­ed to well-pay­ing employ­ers that offer long-term, sus­tain­able careers.

JFF: Fos­ter­ing more inclu­sive hir­ing practices

In its report Grow­ing Equi­ty and Diver­si­ty Through Appren­tice­ship, the non­prof­it JFF ana­lyzes the efforts of more than 15 work­er asso­ci­a­tions and employ­ers to gen­er­ate insights on appren­tice­ship pro­grams look­ing to boost diverse hir­ing. Advice includes:

  • Look beyond degrees. Employ­ers can cre­ate oppor­tu­ni­ties for peo­ple who have tra­di­tion­al­ly been exclud­ed from well-pay­ing jobs by con­sid­er­ing can­di­dates’ spe­cif­ic skills and pas­sion — not just their edu­ca­tion­al background.
  • Con­nect with stu­dents ear­ly. Young peo­ple should learn about career path­ways out­side of the tra­di­tion­al four-year col­lege mod­el as soon as possible.

North Car­oli­na Jus­tice Cen­ter: Expand­ing access to youth apprenticeships

A study by the North Car­oli­na Jus­tice Cen­ter, Mak­ing Youth Appren­tice­ships Equi­table and Effec­tive, explores youth appren­tice­ship pro­grams in four North Car­oli­na coun­ties and ana­lyzes the bar­ri­ers that young peo­ple — par­tic­u­lar­ly youth of col­or — face. Rec­om­men­da­tions include:

  • Active­ly recruit young peo­ple of col­or. Employ­ers and oth­er recruiters should pri­or­i­tize vis­its to schools that pri­mar­i­ly serve stu­dents of color.
  • Rely on trust­ed mes­sen­gers. Mem­bers from with­in a giv­en com­mu­ni­ty — pas­tors, com­mu­ni­ty advo­cates, employ­ees of col­or — may be more effec­tive at con­nect­ing with stu­dents of col­or and pro­mot­ing appren­tice­ships as viable opportunities.
  • Col­lect and stan­dard­ize data. To mea­sure results well, pro­gram staff must col­lect data in the same way, using the same meth­ods, across var­i­ous sites.

Part­ner­ship to Advance Youth Appren­tice­ship (PAYA): Build­ing qual­i­ty programs

PAYA is a mul­ti­year, mul­ti­state ini­tia­tive to help high school stu­dents access high-qual­i­ty appren­tice­ship oppor­tu­ni­ties. The col­lab­o­ra­tive has devel­oped a set of guid­ing prin­ci­ples to help ensure that these pro­grams con­nect young peo­ple with the skills need­ed to meet work­place demands and devel­op suc­cess­ful careers. PAYA defines effec­tive youth appren­tice­ship pro­grams as:

  • Career ori­ent­ed, with learn­ing struc­tured around knowl­edge, skills and com­pe­ten­cies that leads to careers pro­vid­ing fam­i­ly-sup­port­ing wages.
  • Equi­table, with tar­get­ed sup­port ser­vices for stu­dents who face the great­est edu­ca­tion and employ­ment barriers.
  • Portable and offer trans­ferrable col­lege credits.
  • Adapt­able and designed for a vari­ety of indus­tries and sectors.
  • Account­able, with clear­ly defined targets.

Learn more about PAYA’s state-based efforts and view its info­graph­ic on the ben­e­fits of youth appren­tice­ships.