Here’s a new idea for boosting women in the workplace: teach them to do traditionally male jobs. That’s exactly what’s happening at Rosie the Riveter High School in Long Beach, California, the first trade school geared toward women. The founder of the school, Lynn Shaw, a former miner, steelworker and longshoreman with a doctorate in electrical engineering, was tired of being the only woman in all of her traditionally male jobs. This imbalance in the workplace inspired her to try to make a change, especially when she did some research and discovered that “women in nontraditional jobs earn 20 per cent to 40 percent more than women in what are considered ‘traditional’ women’s jobs.” Wow. So lady plumbers are making bank these days, huh?For the past two years, the faculty and staff at Rosie the Riveter High School have been hard at work trying to fulfill the school’s mission: to train young ladies for vocational trades in traditionally male-dominated industries. The girls (and boys, they don’t discriminate) at this charter school are being prepped to go to college should they choose to, but also being exposed to skills that they may need should they become interested in pursuing other careers such as welding, plumbing, or carpentry. Chicks with power tools = amazing. This school kicks ass. [Salon]
