Blog right triangle Make the Future™ | Connecting Girls to Manufacturing Initiative by NAPE
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Make the Future™ | Connecting Girls to Manufacturing Initiative by NAPE

Manufacturing faces a serious skills gap. Over the next decade, the United States will need to fill nearly 3.5 million manufacturing jobs, but 2 million jobs may go unfilled because we do not currently have enough people trained to do them. Only 29% of the manufacturing workforce is women, 10% is black or African American and 16.6% of the manufacturing workforce is Hispanic or Latino. These numbers underscore the need for more targeted recruiting efforts.

You play a big role in shaping students’ pathways into the workforce and impacting the future of US advanced manufacturing.

Through funding from the Toyota Foundation, the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity Educational Foundation (NAPE) has launched their Make the Future™, Connecting Girls to Manufacturing Initiative, which includes tools and strategies to increase participation and retention of students, especially girls and students of color, in STEM education and courses leading to advanced manufacturing pathways. Research shows that inequities exist, in part, due to our stereotypical way of thinking about careers. These stereotypes create hidden obstacles, but NAPE’s tools helps identify and break down barriers that limit females and other historically underrepresented student groups. Included in the toolset, is a limited-time-only access to NAPE’s online Micro-messaging to Reach and Teach Every Student course including the hallmark work on cultural stereotypes, implicit bias and the impact of Micro-messages on students’ self-efficacy.  Also included in the toolset are NAPE’s nine research-based strategies which are focused on helping recruiters tailor their messaging and events to motivate girls to engage, explore and enroll. There are also a social media resources, student videos, posters, flyers and other collateral examples which can be used for creating the right messages, connecting to the right audience, and using the right strategies. NAPE services are available to assist in applying these strategies to your program. For questions about Make the Future™, contact Dr. Lisa Riegel at lriegel@napequity.org.

Napequity.org/makethefuture

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