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J ack (and J ill?) of All Trades – A C anadian Case Study of Equity in Apprenticeship Supports
Author(s) -
Levasseur Karine,
Paterson Stephanie
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
social policy and administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.972
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1467-9515
pISSN - 0144-5596
DOI - 10.1111/spol.12125
Subject(s) - apprenticeship , certification , equity (law) , entry level , wage , labour economics , opportunity structures , inequality , barriers to entry , business , demographic economics , economics , political science , market structure , sociology , management , industrial organization , mathematical analysis , philosophy , linguistics , mathematics , politics , law , media studies
In the past decade, C anadian federal and provincial governments have designed programmes to facilitate entry into trades in an attempt to stimulate economic growth. As part of these efforts, increasing attention is focusing on programmes to encourage women to enter skilled trades, while paying little attention to those trades traditionally dominated by females. In this article, we explore the gendered dimensions of apprenticeship programmes in C anada, demonstrating the ways in which gender inequality is reproduced by programmes that situate employers and women as responsible for change. In particular, using a case study, we illustrate that the gendered structure of the labour market is preserved and reproduced. While efforts have targeted women to facilitate entry into non‐traditional occupations such as electricians and plumbers, female‐dominated trades such as hairstylists remain untouched, thereby sustaining the gendered wage structure of the economy. Thus women remain segregated in low‐paying trades and receive fewer public supports when pursuing training in these segregated trades. The article argues that apprenticeship training and certification is constructed to respond to the needs of male‐dominated trades, but not the needs of female‐dominated trades. Ultimately, the public policy decisions that make up the apprenticeship training and certification system in C anada reproduce gender inequality.