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Girls-Only Trade Classes Are Becoming More Popular—and They're Upending Gender Stereotypes

Brenda Iaesvoli

July 20, 2018 |

Pacific Standard |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Charlotte, North Carolina

Schools across the U.S. have started offering girls-only auto trade classes as a way to encourage more females to participate in the often male-dominated vocational courses. Brenda Iasevoli writes "Shop class, it seems, is a new path to female empowerment." The classes also help to address the shortage of skilled workers in the auto repair, construction, and welding industries.

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Getting low-income kids into jobs by getting them into career-themed high schools

Bekah McNeel

July 16, 2018 |

The Hechinger Report |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Antonio, Texas

In San Antonio, career-themed schools are at the center “of a growing push to more closely match the skills students gather in high school with workforce needs.” The Center for Applied Science and Technology (CAST), described as akin to “an outpost of Google,” works with industry partners to connect students with local jobs and ensure lessons are up to date, all while emphasizing socioeconomic integration through an approach called “diversity by design.”

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You've Served Your Time. Now You're Told You Can't Cut Hair.

Ashley Nerbovig

July 10, 2018 |

The Marshall Project |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Pennsylvania

A number of states have passed reforms aimed at helping people coming out of incarceration get licenses that are key to well-paying jobs, which in turn help people stay out of prison. But there are still numerous hurdles in other states around criminal histories and background checks that keep people with felony records from entering those professions. Those requirements have cost the economy nearly three million jobs according to one report, and disproportionately affect people of color.

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Wireless in Gaza: the whizz-kids making code not war

Oliver Holmes Hazem Balousha

July 05, 2018 |

The Guardian |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Palestine, Gaza City

A coding academy in Gaza in the Occupied Territories trains young people computer skills and how to think like entrepreneurs, in a quest to offer alternative futures beyond endless conflict. With support from international funders and nonprofits, the academy is on its fourth cohort and graduates are receiving business from international clients. It's a way to develop paying jobs and industry in a place where it's very difficult to do business as usual.

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In Morocco, women find a recipe for success and gainful employment

Stéphanie Jacob

June 14, 2018 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Morocco, Marrakesh

The Marrakesh-based Amal for the Culinary Arts offers Moroccan women from disadvantaged backgrounds free training in order to become culinary chefs. Through the program they get hands on experience. They also help them find a job. Already, around 200 women have gone through the program, and six have created their own businesses.

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What the US can learn from Switzerland's successful approach to vocational education

Annabelle Timsit

June 12, 2018 |

Quartz |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Switzerland

In Switzerland, 30 percent of companies host high school age children for paid apprenticeships. These same companies are involved in setting the national standards for skills required for specific professions. This statistic illustrates the embedded nature of dual vocational and educational training programs in Swiss economic culture: "Apprenticeships and vocational education programs train both welders and lawyers alike." In light of Betsy Devos' recent trip to Switzerland, Quartz asks what barriers exist in the United States that would prevent schools from adopting the same approach.

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Ironworkers help men prep for life outside of Goose Creek Correctional Center

Anne Hillman

June 11, 2018 |

Alaska Public Media |

Radio |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Wasilla, Alaska

A welders union in Alaska is helping fill vocational gaps for prisoners by bringing actual welding equipment to a correctional center so inmates get real-world experience. Although they work with virtual training programs, getting to experience what real welding is like is key for them to actually get jobs once they’re released.

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What is Germany's dual education system — and why do other countries want it?

Ajit Niranjan

June 04, 2018 |

Deutsche Welle (DW) |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Germany

Germany attributes its low youth unemployment rate to its widespread dual educational and vocational training program. College students split time between classrooms and office apprenticeships. Other countries are eagerly investigating Germany's successes, but leaders warn that "feeding such systems into countries without a culture of vocational training" will pose challenges.

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This prison beauty school preps inmates for a career post-incarceration

Rheana Murray

May 15, 2018 |

Today.com |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Chowchilla, California

In a central California prison, male inmates learn cosmetology skills so they can find jobs upon release. The woman overseeing the program ensures the inmates get classroom instruction and hands-on experience working on fellow inmates and prison staff, but she has also become a mother figure for many of the men, who lacked that in their lives. Five inmates have gained their cosmetology licenses so far and they say the program helped them overcome barriers in the prison and in the community.

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Algebra on Aisle Six: How a Disused Kmart Became a Bold New High School

Zach Mortice

May 08, 2018 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Waukegan, Illinois

When Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep, one of a national network of work-study high schools, was looking to move out of an outdated building, an abandoned big box KMart caught administrators' eyes. Strapped by a tight budget, the school creatively transformed the suburban eye sore into a colorful cross between a corporate headquarters and a college campus. Inspired by the school's success, other network schools are looking into vacant factories and grocery stores as new homes.

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