The U.S. Department of Labor’s Jacksonville Job Corps Center recently hosted its first Women’s Career Day. Approximately 75 young women from Jean Ribault High School attended the event on April 20 and explored a variety of traditionally male-dominated careers.

Representatives from the Job Corps Atlanta Regional Office and U.S. Department of Labor's Women’s Bureau, along with Dr. Helen Jackson, founding president and CEO of Women of Color Cultural Foundation, and Ashley Cook, regional director for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, joined the center’s staff, students, graduates and employer partners to provide young women in the Jacksonville area an opportunity to meet and network with industry professionals, learn about job opportunities in nontraditional occupations, and gain valuable insights into the skills and education required for these careers.

“Women account for nearly half the U.S. labor force, but only 14 percent of registered apprentices,” said Jacksonville Job Corps Center Director Paul Wykoff. “Jacksonville Job Corps is a path to those good apprenticeship jobs, especially in areas where women are underrepresented, like construction and manufacturing. You earn while you learn, avoid student debt and jump-start your career.”

While approximately 67% of global health and social care workers are women, only 25% of all jobs in computer technology are held by women, and nearly half of those women work in manufacturing. In the longshoremen profession, women currently make up only 8.3% of the workforce.

During the day, participants heard from a panel of professionals, led by Natasha Black, a program analyst with the Atlanta Women’s Bureau. The panel also included Peni Webster-Lewis, Job Corps’ Atlanta Regional Director; Blanca Jordan with Johnson & Johnson Vision, Strategic Support; Jennifer Henry, Ascension Gulf Coast’s Director Health Education Liaison; Christina Stallings, senior technical director at CSX Technology; Jann J. Clark, longshorewoman with ILA Local 1408; and construction consultant Deborah Thompson.

After the panel discussion, Glen Bottomley, president and CEO of Heritage Service Corporation, and Katherine Bottomley, HSC board member, announced that Jacksonville Job Corps Computer Technician student Alanna Yates won their essay contest and $100 prize. Yates shared in her essay how she could make a difference as an electrician, carpenter or HVAC technician.

“Although there are many more women than in the past that are part of the STEM field, it is still a largely male-dominated one,” she wrote. “And even though I am just one woman, I am one more woman to add to the growing roster of women working in [STEM]. I aspire for a day in the future when my children will be proud to call me a computer technician or computer science analyst.”

The Women’s Career Day event also provided tours of the Jacksonville Job Corps campus and information on its career technical training programs, free for eligible students ages 16–24.