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Women & Work:
The Future
Special Thanks to our March 30 &
31, 2006 Symposium sponsors and supporters
The
B&L Charitable Foundation
Blue
Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
Maricopa
Community Colleges
Wells
Fargo
SRP
TriWest
Healthcare Alliance
The Business Journal
Arizona
Foundation for Women
Northern
Arizona University
Findings and Survey
Over
30 years ago, women started entering the workforce in large
numbers. The workforce environment has changed significantly
since then, but as the workforce landscape continues to evolve,
issues exist that hamper the ability for women to reenter
the workforce, or to compete in the workforce as effectively
as male peers. This coupled with the boomer generation exiting
the workforce presents a squeeze on businesses for quality
employees like never before.
Arizona
has consistently ranked among the top five states in job creation
for the last several years, yet there is a gap between educational
attainment levels needed for occupations in demand compared
to the current workforce. If Arizona's workforce is not educated
and trained for current jobs, as well as anticipated job growth,
Arizona businesses will be significantly compromised in their
ability to find able employees and conduct their businesses.
Consider
the following:
- women on average spend 11 years out of the workforce during
their lifetime, usually to raise children and care for aging
parents or other relatives;
- accessibility and affordability of education are significant
challenges for women;
- displaced homemakers and single mothers have limited access
to education and job training, work in low-wage jobs, and
are living in or near poverty; and
- Arizona statistics show displaced homemakers have increased
more than 27 percent, while the number of single moms has
shot up 118.4 percent from 1994-2003.
The
time is now for employers and educators to evolve the workforce
landscape and accessibility to affordable education for women
so that women can continue to provide success to the stability
of the state workforce.
Arizona
Women's Education & Employment, Inc. (AWEE) just hosted
its first "Women & Work: The Future" symposium
as part of its celebration of changing lives through the dignity
of work for 25 years. The two-day symposium focused on identifying
key issues facing women in the workforce and develop recommendations
to help employers, workforce development organizations and
policy makers address and enhance these issues. We extend
our gratitude to all those who attended and participated in
the event.
We
are pleased to share our findings with you in hopes that it
might offer insight as well as shape your engagement in one
of the most critical issues to business in the coming 10-20
years - our human capital. You will also find information
enclosed about AWEE and the work we do throughout so many
communities.
If
you are interested in a presentation to your staff, board
members or other groups, please feel free to let us know.
AWEE is committed to educating the community on these critical
issues so that we can work together to realize the benefits
of a robust, well-trained workforce.
Click
here for a PDF version of the Symposium Summary.
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