May 4, 2016 | Leadership, Political, State Initiatives, Vermont, Work, Workplace Diversity
“Did you know that in Vermont that 43 percent of women who work full-time do not earn enough to cover basic living expenses as defined by Vermont’s Joint Fiscal Office? That single women with minor children are nine times more likely than women who are married to live in poverty? That the median annual Social Security income for women in their senior years is only $10,000—half that of men?
These and other startling statistics were recently revealed in “2016 Status Report: Women, Work and Wages,” a new brief released in January and produced by Change The Story (CTS), a multiyear initiative dedicated to significantly improving women’s economic status in Vermont. Spearheaded by the state’s three most active and influential women’s organizations—the Vermont Women’s Fund, the Vermont Commission on Women, and Vermont Works for Women—it aligns philanthropy, policy, and program to dig deep into the underlying reasons why women continue to lag behind their male counterparts in almost every area of economic activity and to uncover key leverage points and gender issues that should be considered in future planning for education, employment, and state spending.”
[x_button shape=”square” size=”regular” float=”none” href=”http://changethestoryvt.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Vermont-Woman-article.pdf” title=”Vermont Woman: Changing the Economic Story for Vermont Women” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Read the full article[/x_button]
Apr 11, 2016 | Corporate, Economic Security, Occupational Segregation, State Initiatives, Talent Management, Vermont, Wage Gap, Work, Workplace Diversity
This is the second in a series of briefs published by Change The Story on topics related to women’s economic status. This report focuses specifically on occupational segregation, its impact on women’s wages, and the way in which it compromises Vermont’s ability to make the most of home-grown talent. Much of the data in this report is new or not regularly collected or published. All of it is specific to Vermont and all is critical – not just in terms of what it reflects about women, but in its implications for the entire Vermont economy.
Download the full report.
Download the companion slide deck.
Among our findings:
- Women who work full-time struggle to make ends meet.
- Of the 15 occupations in which women’s median annual salaries top $35,000, nearly half are in male-dominated fields.
- Occupational segregation, the uneven distribution of labor across and within sectors by gender, is the norm – not the exception – in Vermont.
- In 15 of 25 major occupational categories tracked by the U.S. Census, either men or women are 70% or more of all workers.
- Forty years after Title IX, women’s work continues to be women’s work.
- The gender balance in most traditionally female occupations has remained nearly constant from 1970-2013. Nearly half of women working full-time in Vermont continue to be employed in the same occupations in which they worked forty years ago.
- The next generation of female electricians, coders, and engineers isn’t in the pipeline.
- Young women are a small fraction of students who completed computer science, engineering, trades and technical programs at state career and technical high schools: 9% of those in information technology; 6% in manufacturing; 6% in transportation; and 5% in architecture and construction.
- While the gender breakdown is essentially equal among high school students taking Advanced Placement (AP) tests in calculus, chemistry, and biology, young women are a minority of students earning college degrees in physics, chemistry, computer science, economics, and engineering.
- Occupational segregation is costly – not just for women, but for employers and the Vermont economy.
- Nearly 60% of high-wage, high-demand entry-level occupations are those in which women are a significant minority of workers. Occupational segregation limits the pool of potential workers for jobs employers need to fill.
Feb 4, 2016 | Economic Security, Education, Leadership, Mentoring, Occupational Segregation, Political, State Initiatives, STEM, Talent Management, Vermont, Wage Gap, Work, Workplace Diversity
“At a recent press conference, Vermont Tech announced their initiative to tackle workforce development, economic development and gender equity by significantly increasing participation rates among women in several historically male-dominated fields. The college has set new annual female enrollment growth targets in civil and environmental engineering technology, computer information technology, computer software engineering, construction management, and mechanical engineering technology. The enrollment targets project annual growth of nearly 40%, each year for the next three years starting in the fall of 2016. By the end of the project term, Vermont Tech should realize an increase of female participation in these programs from 10% to 24%. The momentum of such growth and lessons learned from the activities of the project’s years should yield even greater participation rates beyond 2018.”
[x_button shape=”square” size=”regular” float=”none” href=”http://www.vtc.edu/news/vermont-tech-announces-enrollment-targets-gender-equity-initiative” title=”Vermont Tech Announces Enrollment Targets For Gender Equity Initiative” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Read the full article.[/x_button]
Feb 3, 2016 | CTS in the news, Education, Mentoring, Occupational Segregation, Political, State Initiatives, STEM, Talent Management, Vermont, Wage Gap, Work, Workplace Diversity
“At a recent press conference, Vermont Tech announced their initiative to tackle workforce development, economic development and gender equity by significantly increasing participation rates among women in several historically male-dominated fields. The college has set new annual female enrollment growth targets in civil and environmental engineering technology, computer information technology, computer software engineering, construction management, and mechanical engineering technology. The enrollment targets project annual growth of nearly 40%, each year for the next three years starting in the fall of 2016. By the end of the project term, Vermont Tech should realize an increase of female participation in these programs from 10% to 24%. The momentum of such growth and lessons learned from the activities of the project’s years should yield even greater participation rates beyond 2018.”
[x_button shape=”square” size=”regular” float=”none” href=”http://www.vtc.edu/news/vermont-tech-announces-enrollment-targets-gender-equity-initiative” title=”Vermont Tech Announces Enrollment Targets For Gender Equity Initiative” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Read the full article.[/x_button]
Jan 14, 2016 | Economic Security, Occupational Segregation, State Initiatives, Vermont, Wage Gap, Work
This brief is published by Change The Story VT (CTS), a multi-year strategy to align philanthropy, policy, and program to significantly improve women’s economic status in Vermont. CTS is fueled by three statewide organizations focused on women’s economic well-being: the Vermont Women’s Fund, Vermont Commission on Women, and Vermont Works for Women.
This is the first in a series of briefs we will publish on topics related to women’s economic well-being. Much of the data in the briefs is either new, or not regularly collected or published. All of the data is specific to Vermont, and all is critical – not just in what it reflects about women, but in its implications for the entire Vermont economy.
Download the full report.
Download the companion slide deck.
Among the findings:
- Women are significantly more likely than men to live in poverty or economic insecurity – in large part because they have primary responsibility for the care of minor children.
- 43% of VT women who work full-time do not make enough to cover basic living expenses as defined by VT’s Joint Fiscal Office.
- The poverty rate for families headed by single women is 37.5% – nine times the poverty rate of married couples.
- Women who work full-time are disproportionately employed in low-wage jobs – in every age group, at every level of education.
- VT women are especially vulnerable in their senior years, when their median annual income from Social Security ($10,000) is half that of men ($20,000).
The data in this report was collected and analyzed by Flint Springs Associates, a Vermont-based consulting firm; principal researchers were Joy Livingston and Vicki Hart.
Click here for the press release.
Read the FAQs here.
Jan 11, 2016 | Economic Security, Education, Mentoring, Non-profit, State Initiatives, Vermont
Champlain College’s Center for Financial Literacy, using national data, has graded all 50 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) on their efforts to produce financially literate high school graduates. What the grading shows is that we have a long way to go before we are a financially literate nation.
In this 2015 report card, we attempt to measure how well our high schools are providing personal finance education. Although there have been improvements made over the past few years, more can be done. When it comes to report cards, everyone wants an A. But when the Center graded 50 states and D.C. on their financial literacy education, only five states earned an A.
Sadly, 26 states received grades of C, D or F. Less than half were given grades that you would want your children to bring home from school—grades A or B, and 29% had grades of D or F.
Vermont
- Grade: D
- Is a high school course with personal finance concepts required to be taken as a graduation requirement? No, taking a course with personal finance concepts is not a graduation requirement. Local districts may offer a personal finance course either on a stand-alone basis or embedded into another course offering. High school graduation requirements are determined by the local school districts. See: Vermont School Quality and Education Quality Standards Concepts (page 2).
- Education Standards: In 2014, Vermont adopted Vermont Education Quality Standards (EQS) that require local school districts to deliver curriculum aligned to Vermont Proficiency-Based Graduation Requirements (PBGRs) approved by the State Board of Education. Students are required to demonstrate proficiency in global citizenship (including the concepts of civics, economics, geography, world language, cultural studies and history). Although global citizenship includes economics, it does not include financial literacy. In addition to the EQS and PBGRs, educational standards have been approved by the state board of education that include some financial literacy topics, see: Vermont’s Framework of Standards and Learning Opportunities (Framework).
- Caveat: It is not clear how Vermont measures student achievement in financial literacy or how the state monitors local school district implementation of the financial literacy education requirement. The financial literacy topics identified in the Framework are classified as “vital results.” Vital results standards are the responsibility of teachers in all fields of knowledge. Thus, personal finance topics lack a subject matter home in the framework. The financial literacy concepts are fairly sparse and briefly cover the topics of personal economics and career choices.
- Extra Credit: The Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College created a Financial Literacy Task force of governmental, business and non-profit leaders that made recommendations for policymakers with regard to increasing Vermonter’s financial literacy, see Vermont’s Financial Literacy Action Plan. In 2015, a law was passed creating a financial literacy commission to make policy recommendations to the governor and legislature. See: Vermont Financial Literacy Commission Law (page 16). The Office of the State Treasurer has created a website that provides financial literacy resources. See: Treasurer Financial Literacy Resources. The Treasurer also administers a Financial Literacy Trust Fund.
[x_button shape=”square” size=”regular” float=”none” href=”http://www.champlain.edu/centers-of-excellence/center-for-financial-literacy/report-making-the-grade” title=”Making the Grade: 2015 National Report Card on State of Financial Literacy” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Read the full report.[/x_button]
