Copyright 2002 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc. Chicago
Sun-Times
June 6, 2002 Thursday
SECTION: NEWS SPECIAL EDITION; Pg. 30
LENGTH: 538 words
HEADLINE:
Women's group fights for vocational ed parity
SOURCE: Sun-Times Washington Bureau
BYLINE: Lynn Sweet
DATELINE:
WASHINGTON
HIGHLIGHT: Title IX-based
petition cites lopsided statistics
BODY: When Geri Harston was a student at Chicago's Dunbar Vocational High
School in the 1970s, the aspiring electrician was steered away from the
electronics shop and toward a lower-paying nursing career.
The National Women's Law Center, in federal petitions being filed today
in Illinois and 11 other states, is charging that pervasive sex segregation
still exists in the vocational and technical education courses in the nation's
high schools, resulting in girls getting stuck in low-wage careers.
The filings ask for tougher enforcement of the
gender equity law known as Title IX, which is 30 years old
this month. While Title IX is most closely associated with creating parity in
school sports programs, its wider application calls for providing equal
educational opportunities for boys and girls.
The
petitions ask the U.S. Department of Education's civil rights office to
"undertake an investigation of the practices that have led to this extreme sex
segregation and whether there are artificial barriers that are limiting girls'
opportunities," said Joycelyn Samuels, vice president and director of
educational opportunities for the center, which specializes in gender equity
law.
As part of its national investigation, the center
asked the Illinois Department of Education for data on high school vocational
programs for 2001.
Some 96 percent of cosmetology
students (who earn a median of $8.49 per hour) were female while 88 percent of
the students in electrical and electronics related repair classes (median salary
for electricians, $19.29 per hour) were males. Statewide Illinois findings
include:
*In food service courses, 481 students were
male compared to 1,040 female.
*In carpenter classes,
400 students were male compared to 94 female.
*In
automotive body repair and mechanic classes, 564 students were male to 94
female.
*In licensed practical nurse classes, 8
students were male to 140 females.
"Thirty years after
the enactment of Title IX, the patterns of enrollment in vocational and
technical programs look shockingly similar to the patterns that existed prior to
passage of the law," concludes the Center in its study, which will be unveiled
at a press conference in Washington today at which Harston will appear.
Harston eventually became an electrician and is a
recruiter for the IBEW electrical union's apprenticeship program.
Melissa Barbier, director of girls programs for the
Chicago Women in Trades who will also appear at the press conference, said some
of the blame for career sexual stereotyping falls on counselors.
"Counselors do not always know about non-traditional careers," Barbier
said.
While there are concerns among women's groups as
to the commitment of the Bush administration to the current sports equity
regulations--which has resulted in the reduction of some men's athletic
programs--the worry does not exist at present over vocational technology equity
issues.
"The data manifests so stark a problem that we
expect that the Bush administration will be responsive to these types of
investigations,'' Samuels said.
Said Harston, "in a
trade you make the same amount of money as the guys make. I am trying to give
them that message."
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