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Tips Given for Non-Traditional Career Recruiting
(Posted: June 10, 2008) (Printable Version)
Educators from more than a dozen school districts and the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith took time June 9 to learn how to recruit and retain female students into non-traditional career programs.
The group of approximately 30 heard Ede Slovin from Florida in a presentation that she delivers for the National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science (IWITTS). Her topic at UA Fort Smith was “Opening Doors for Women in Trade and Technology.” Slovin didn’t limit her remarks, however, to female students, saying the workshop was to teach participants “how to recruit both men and women for careers non-traditional for their genders.”
Slovin shared recruitment principles with the group and gave examples of gender-specific needs in various career fields, such as the shortage of men in nursing and the available opportunities for women in auto mechanics.
“You don’t have to talk about what’s traditional or nontraditional,” said Slovin, “just talk about the career.”
Slovin encouraged sharing salary data with students, saying that the salaries alone for various occupations would be the driving point to grabbing a student’s interest in a particular field.
Slovin, who has provided training for both educators in secondary and post-secondary institutions in several states since she became a part of the IWITTS in 1999, has been executive director since last fall of the Options! Program, which is a community based organization for empowerment, education and employment.
From 1995 to 2005, Slovin served as director of the New Directions program at Seminole Community College in Sanford, Fla., and has also taught at the high school level. She has been active in a number of state and national organizations and has received numerous honors and awards for retention, completion and fundraising.
The workshop was arranged by Lori Cravens, non-traditional career specialist in the College of Applied Science and Technology at UA Fort Smith, in collaboration with the Western Arkansas Education Service Cooperative. The workshop was funded by a Carl Perkins grant. Professional development credit was available for participants through the Cooperative.
Participants included:
Alma: Cindy Linker, Hackett School District.
Booneville: Diana Branham, Booneville School District; Anna Evans, County Line School District; and Cheryl Davis, Magazine School District.
Cedarville: Courtney Hayes, Cedarville School District.
Charleston: Milinda Wisdom, Charleston School District; and Judith Patterson, Lavaca School District.
Clarksville: Karen Frizzell, Lamar School District; and Jaime Blamey, Clarksville School District.
Fort Smith: Miff Rosar, Fort Smith School District; Theresa Piechocki, Trinity Junior High; Linda Childers and Sandra Adams, Mansfield School District; Suzanne Horne, UA Fort Smith faculty; Kim Gordon, UA Fort Smith Center for Business and Professional Development; and Trolene Dodd, Grace Academy.
Greenwood: Rhianna Wagner, Mansfield School District.
Hackett: Mary Carter, Mansfield School District.
Heavener: Sharon Herrington, Hartford School District.
Huntington: Sue Ward and Crystal Sexton, Mansfield School District; and Jim Emberson, Waldron School District.
Lamar: Debra Blackard, Lamar School District.
Mountainburg: Misty Gassaway, Mountainburg School District.
Roland: Argie Nichols, UA Fort Smith faculty.
Russellville: Nancy Grace, Lamar School District.
Van Buren: Cheryl Lehman, Van Buren School District.
Also attending from the Western Arkansas Education Service Cooperative were Jane Phillips, career and technical education coordinator, and Jennifer Turner, career and technical education program development coordinator.
| Article by: Sondra LaMar, Director of Public Relations | |
| Photo(s) by: Jamie Mitchell of Jamie Mitchell Photography |
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