Employment

Feature Article

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Youth Career Summit: A Path to a Bright Future

By: Rosalie Lane

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System hosts Youth Career Summits in three of Alabama's metropolitan areas (Huntsville, Mobile and Dothan) during the month of October. The Summits are held in cooperation with local school systems, chambers of commerce, and other local area businesses and organizations. Approximately 8,000 high school students have attended this event since its inception in 2000, and over 2,225 students attended in Houston and Madison Counties in 2003 alone.

The mission of the Youth Career Summit is to increase young women's awareness about technical career opportunities and training programs available to them since women are often underrepresented in high-paying technical fields. Here are statistics to confirm the need for Youth Career Summits:

• Women compromise 15 percent of engineering graduates.
• Only 1.2 percent of civilian and commercial airline pilots are women.
• Less than 3 percent of aircraft engine mechanics are women.
• There are fewer women in upper level math and physics courses.
• Men dominate the field of information technology, even with over 300,000 IT jobs going unfilled this year alone.

The Summit was originally developed to increase the 15 percent female presence in unique technological fields because nationally, teenage girls are also 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 non-traditional 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. However, young men have demanded the same Youth Career Summit exposure as young women and are now given the same opportunities.

And that's why Extension staff at three of the nine Urban Centers, along with local partners make sure that students in grades 11-12 obtain a broader view of the nontraditional careers in high-wage and high-tech fields. Students are exposed to role models that have moved beyond employment barriers either as entrepreneurs or professionals in various high-wage or high-tech occupations. They discuss how to break into such careers as avionics, aviation, automotive, manufacturing, allied health, entrepreneurship, and other high-wage or high-tech careers in science, technology, or management.

The Summit also partners with vocational schools and junior colleges and was a part of the American Association of Community Colleges-Association of Community College Trustees Community College Agenda for the 107th Congress. It provided some funding for workforce training programs, especially the Basic State Grants and Tech Prep Program contained in the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act, which emphasize continuous program improvement and partnerships with business and industry.

Young ladies and men who are interested in learning more about Youth Career Summits should contact their junior or high school counselors for more information, or Extension Specialist Rosalie Lane at (256) 372-4982.