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Identifying Gender Bias in Spending Allocations: the case of Scottish Modern Apprenticeships

Identifying Gender Bias in Spending Allocations: the case of Scottish Modern Apprenticeships. Emily Thomson Economic Studies and International Business Glasgow Caledonian University Email – Emily.Thomson@gcu.ac.uk. Modern Apprenticeships. Publicly funded training programme

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Identifying Gender Bias in Spending Allocations: the case of Scottish Modern Apprenticeships

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  1. Identifying Gender Bias in Spending Allocations: the case of Scottish Modern Apprenticeships Emily Thomson Economic Studies and International Business Glasgow Caledonian University Email – Emily.Thomson@gcu.ac.uk

  2. Modern Apprenticeships • Publicly funded training programme • Target group is 16-19 year olds • SVQ/work based qualification • Traditional and non-traditional frameworks • Key labour market entry point • ‘Flagship’ policy in intermediate skills

  3. MA delivery/responsibilities • Funding - Scottish Government/Skills Development Scotland (SDS set up in 2008) • Marketing/promotion and development of frameworks – SDS/Sector Skills Councils • Accreditation – Scottish Qualification Authority • Delivery – Training providers/FE colleges/employers • Public Sector Duties to promote equality

  4. Gender and MAs • SWBG 2002 – low participation of women and occupational segregation • EOC launches UK Gender Formal Investigation (GFI) in September 2003 • GFI Scotland reports February 2005 • 5 sectors – childcare (EYC&E), ICT, construction, engineering and plumbing • Occupational segregation found to be severe

  5. Female Participation

  6. Occupational Segregation 1

  7. Occupational Segregation 2 • Traditional versus non-traditional - • McIntosh (2007) – average wage increase for construction MA 32%, retail MAs have no effect on wages (England) • Walker and Zhu (2007) – men can expect an wage increase of just over 20%, women can expect just under 10%, after completion of MA • Fong and Phelps (2008) – 21% gender pay gap in English apprenticeships

  8. GFI Recommendations • Relevant data should be in the public domain • Positive action on promoting industries to ‘a-typical’ candidates • Actions to promote desegregation – collective responsibility of all stakeholders • ‘Business case’ to be made by Local Enterprise Companies and Sector Skills Councils/Bodies • NATIONAL STRATEGY

  9. Action? • Scottish Executive set up Cross Directorate Occupational Segregation Working Group - no recommendations made on MAs • SDS - Equality Impact Assessment of National Training Programmes November 2010 • Apprenticeship Summits 2009 (no mention of gender) and 2011 (v little discussion of gender)

  10. Equality Impact Assessment • National Training Programmes: Equality Impact Assessment & Action Plan (November 2010) • 3 equalities groups (BME, disabled, women) • Literature review does not consider GFI although their consultation makes similar observations • Key elements of strategy and action plan – employer engagement, workplace support and mentoring, promotion of NTPs and equalities training for providers, partners and SDS staff

  11. Resource Allocation • In 2010 SDS spent £57.6m on MAs • Research suggests gender bias in spending between traditional and non-traditional frameworks and between ‘young’ and ‘adult’ Modern Apprentices (Campbell et al 2009) • Customer service £3000, engineering and gas £9000 (16 -19 years) • Construction 16-19 years £7500, 20+ years £3500

  12. Funding Commitments • Scottish Government suspends funding for adult MAs (new starts) from 2008 except in construction and engineering • 'Adopt/Safeguard/Invest in An Apprentice' • ‘Refreshed’ Skills Strategy 2010 – 20,000 new MAs (5000 all-age) to be funded in 2010-11 • Draft Budget 2010 - 25,000 Modern Apprenticeships in 2011-12

  13. Issues to consider... • Methodology – Rake (2000) identifying the target group and beneficiaries?? • Lack of publically available data • Economic context – recession, spending restraint • Policy context - increasing numbers of apprentices but little emphasis on outcomes • Accrediting existing skills is not value added, gender audit can help to address this

  14. Conclusions • Modern Apprenticeships could be a force for positive change • Large evidence base in terms of gender • Lack of available data on funding and MA pay rates • Example of policy where lack of action has meant investment of public funds biased towards men • Alternative investment in women’s skills???

  15. References • Campbell J, Gillespie M, McKay A and Meikle A (2009) ‘Jobs for the Boys and the Girls: Promoting a Smart Successful Scotland three years on’, Scottish Affairs 66, Winter 2009. • Fong B and A Phelps (2008) ‘Apprenticeship Pay: 2007 Survey of Earnings by Sector’ DUIS Research Report 08 05 • McIntosh S (2007) ‘A Cost Benefit Analysis of Apprenticeship and Other Vocational Qualifications’ DfES Research Report RR834 • Rake, K (2000) ‘Into the mainstream? Why gender audit is an essential tool for policymakers’, New Economy, Vol. 7 No. 2 • Walker, I and Y Zhu (2007) ‘The Labour Market Effects of Qualifications’ Glasgow: Futureskills Scotland

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