A Toolkit for Increasing Women’s Employment in Traditionally Male-Dominated High-Wage, High-Skill Fields on the Railroad and in Public Transit Agencies
Rail and transit sector jobs offer significant opportunities for women to access middle skill jobs that offer economic security and enable them to support them-selves and their families. However, many transit and rail jobs are considered nontraditional occupations for women. Women still remain underrepresented in the major categories of jobs, especially the high-wage, high skilled blue-collar jobs. This toolkit is designed to help rail companies, transit agencies, training programs and unions break through the occupational segregation that limits women’s participation in a range of rail and transit sector jobs.
The resources in this toolkit will support the recruitment, training, and retention of women in nontraditional apprenticeship and jobs in the rail and transit sector. The toolkit can be used by program planners, managers, and frontline staff conducting outreach and assessment and training, to ensure that each stage of the employment process—from recruitment through retention—looks at how the workplace environment can be responsive to women of many backgrounds and how systems can be created or improved to address the barriers women face.