Spoiler Alert- the Trades have ALWAYS been Career Ready.
In an effort to keep a long story tolerable, let’s remember a bit of American (United States) history that sets the table for where we find ourselves now…
In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth, manufacturing in the United States was faced with a dilemma. They found they could produce certain goods and parts very quickly and get them into the marketplace faster if they used relatively inexpensive labor for repetitive tasks (think Ford’s assembly line 1913).
Apprenticeships, which had been in place, took a longer amount of time and came at a higher cost than simply replacing people to fill these task slots. Machinery was replacing skilled labor and skilled labor was not needed to operate much of the machinery. It was a calculated risk.
The result was, for a long period of time, the U.S. dominated production, sales, and shipping of certain kinds of goods. Producing faster and cheaper, we shipped around the world.
Europe kept apprenticeships in place; in fact they doubled down by incorporating education tracts into their middle and high school systems, fast tracking apprentices into trades and corporations where the students already understood what they were walking into and had started both the academic and hands on requirements.
In my opinion- and it is only my opinion- the U.S. missed a window decades ago to reincorporate apprenticeship in a meaningful way. We doubled down on “college is the key” to your success. Where college can be very useful for a career or even necessary for some, it is NOT a one size fits all answer. This has become glaringly obvious in the last ten years.
Culturally we had also created a chasm; as early as 1917 vocational schools had been funded but lost steam by 1926. Why? Upwardly mobile families wanted their children in colleges and Universities rather than vocational schools, but the dirty little secret was that the colleges and universities had no intention of preparing for careers.
The “cachet” of college gained esteem regardless of outcomes. A prejudice formed in the American zeitgeist that was “college was preferred” and “trades were what you did if you couldn’t go to college”. Following that logic the “who” of who didn’t go to college would be perceived as either not bright enough or too poor- or both- to attend.
Small wonder there has been a stigma attached to skilled trades.
My sincere hope is that the U.S. seizes the current atmosphere for the RIGHT reasons this time around and presents all options.
Plainly there are a lot of jobs that hold career trajectory potential. There are careers that require the kind of education found in colleges and universities: journalism, physicians, pharmacists, engineers, and other highly technical degrees.
Proper skilled trade careers start with accredited apprenticeships. Apprenticeships follow protocols for both academic advancement and on the job learning that should be reported to accounted for by the state in which the training occurs. The combination of classroom and “hands on” experience, over a prescribed period of time- in electrical it’s 4 years (just like a college)- result in licensure.
Licensure is the “trades diploma”.
We should embrace all options leading to a career:
· Jobs that train to promote to higher, salaried levels.
· Attending colleges or universities where the result is a clear career trajectory.
· Accredited Apprenticeships that lead to professional licensures.
Three solid ways to secure a future, earn living wages, and pursue lifestyle goals.
Turning around the American mindset is up to us as a culture. Let’s put down the “us versus them” career banner we’ve been carrying and start carrying one that reads “opportunity for all”.
…and mean it.
Jenny Boone, IEC Chesapeake VP Communications/Sales
Visit IECC Apprenticeship: Electrical Apprenticeship Programs by IEC Chesapeake
