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 Youth
Summit Peaks Career Interests of Local Teen Girls
Normal,
AL, Oct. 29, 2002---Close to
300 female high school juniors and seniors from Madison County and
Scottsboro school systems will participate in the Youth Summit at
Virginia College at Huntsville, Thursday, Oct. 31.
The Summit's goal is to
motivate young women to pursue nontraditional occupations.
Nationally, teenage girls are underrepresented in high school
technology education courses, and are more likely to know less about
technology and technical fields. Some are even discouraged from
taking such courses because of existing stereotypes about
"suitable" career options for women today. But those roles
are dramatically changing as more women pursue jobs traditionally
held by men.
A nontraditional job is
classified as any occupation where men or women comprise 25 percent
or less of its employment population. Women are moving into these
fields for better wages, greater job satisfaction and new
opportunities.
"The Youth Summit
offers teens motivational advice, salary information and job-related
insight on careers in several nontraditional jobs in science,
technology and management. Students are exposed to role models who
have moved beyond employment barriers either as entrepreneurs or
professionals in high-tech, high-wage occupations," says
Rosalie Lane, Extension workforce specialist and event coordinator.
The Alabama Cooperative
Extension System has hosted other youth summits in three of Alabama’s
metro areas (Huntsville, Mobile and Dothan) during October. These
summits are held in cooperation with local school systems, chambers
of commerce, and other local area businesses and organizations.
Source: Rosalie M. Lane,
Workforce Development Specialist, Alabama A&M University,
(256) 858-4982
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