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Continuing To Build A More Diverse Workforce In The Highway Trades: 2018 Evaluation Of The Odot/Boli Highway Construction Workforce Development Program, Lindsey Wilkinson, Maura Kelly

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

While white men have historically dominated the highway construction trades in Oregon, this trend continues to change: of those enrolled in apprenticeships in the highway construction trades in 2005, 81% were white men; in 2017, this number was 69%. Of apprentices who completed an apprenticeship in 2010, 84% where white men; in 2017, this number was 76%. These changes are likely due, in part, to efforts by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Bureau of Labor Industries (BOLI) to diversify the skilled highway construction workforce through pre apprenticeships as well as financial and nonfinancial services to apprentices in …

Portland Metro Region Construction Workforce Market Study, Worksystems Inc., Oregon Employment Department, Maura Kelly, Jm Woolley & Associates, Oregon Tradeswomen, National Association Of Minority Contractors Of Oregon

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This in-depth construction workforce market study was commissioned to help Metro and partners more effectively invest resources toward promotion of equitable growth in the region’s economy through the enhancement of career opportunities for women and people of color in the construction trades.

Evaluation Of Pre-Apprenticeship And Retention Services In The Construction Trades In Oregon, Lindsey Wilkinson, Maura Kelly

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

While white men have historically dominated the highway construction trades in Oregon, this trend is changing: of those enrolled in apprenticeships in the highway construction trades in 2005, 81% were white men; in 2015, this number was 70% (Figure 1). These changes are due in part to recruitment efforts and training offered by pre-apprenticeship programs, which are designed to help individuals build the necessary skills to meet the minimum entry qualifications to enter a trade or apprenticeship program. Pre-apprenticeships can reach not only women and people of color, but also people without family or friends in the trades, which is …

Building Diversity In The Construction Trades, Maura Kelly

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

(Still) Building A More Diverse Workforce In The Highway Trades: 2016 Evaluation Of The Odot/Boli Highway Construction Workforce Development Program, Lindsey Wilkinson, Maura Kelly

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) have partnered in a statewide effort—the Highway Construction Workforce Development Program—to recruit, train, and employ a diverse workforce for highway construction jobs throughout the state. This program, begun in 2010, supports pre-apprenticeship programs and provides financial assistance (i.e. fuel assistance, support for overnight travel, childcare, and work clothes, tools, and protective equipment) and non-financial support (i.e. counseling, formal mentoring, social support) in an effort to increase the recruitment and retention of women and people of color in Oregon’s highway construction trades.

In 2014, Measure of America, …

Building A More Diverse Skilled Workforce In The Highway Trades: Are Oregon’S Current Efforts Working?, Sarah Burd-Sharps, Kristen Lewis, Maura Kelly

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Jobs in the highway construction trades have historically been primarily held by white men and largely remain so today; of those completing apprenticeships in the highway trades in Oregon between 2011 and early 2014, 83.4 percent were white men. Building a more diverse skilled workforce and making careers in these trades more accessible and appealing to women and people of color has proven challenging.

The state’s Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), in collaboration with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), in 2010 began a statewide effort—the Highway Construction Workforce Development Program—to find, train, and employ a diverse workforce for …

Evaluation Of The Effect Of Supportive Services On The Success Of Apprentices In A Highway Trade, Maura Kelly

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This project evaluates the impact of a Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI) and Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) initiative that provides supportive services (i.e. child care subsidies; fuel assistance; support for overnight travel; tools, clothing, and protective equipment) to promote retention of apprentices in the highway trades, with particular concern for increasing the retention of women and people of color. This research project specifically focuses on the Knife River apprentice program. This is a useful case study as all apprentices in the program are employed by the same employer (most apprentice programs have multiple employers) and because approximately half …

Apprenticeship Needs Assessment In Heavy Highway Construction Workforce, Maura Kelly, Lindsey Wilkinson

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

To gain an understanding of the reasons that women and men of color are not retained in apprenticeships relevant to the heavy highway trades at the same rate as are white men. Particular attention shall be focused on the reasons that apprentices refuse job assignments/dispatches, leave assignments before the contractor’s job is finished, and retention in the third period of apprenticeships. Differences in motivations, the nature of obstacles faced and the type and effectiveness of particular supports to affect retention rates shall be considered, with attention to the potentially different experience of people in different trades and regions, as well …