Comment:

Table 14 indicates the types of occupations for which women are being trained and the occupations which they held before entering training. The overall picture suggests that women are being moved into clerical occupations at an alarming rate.

The 79.9% of women in apprenticeship programs are almost all hairdressing trainees, a service occupation.

The women already employed in processing occupations are those most likely to receive industrial training (i.e. training related to a job). These women are relatively well unionized and occu in large enough numbers in this occupational group to create pressure for this type of training.

If we compare these percentages with those shown in the second column of Table 2, we find that female trainees come from the service occupations in larger numbers than they occur in the labour force (33.5% compared to 15%) and in much smaller proportions from clerical occupations (20% compared to 38%)

Moreover, the percentages being trained for clerical skills (58.8%) far exceeds the percentage of women who are actually employed in these occupations (38%).

The overall picture suggests that women are attempting to get out of the low-wage, low-skill service occupations and into more highly-skilled, better-paying occupations; but more are being trained for clerical occupations than are likely to find adequate employment.