Apprenticeship Training

America's continued economic well-being depends on how well it manages its human resources. Changing demographics, combined with the increasing complexity of work, have made training and retraining U.S. workers a critical issue. Apprenticeship training involves learning by doing under the auspices of a mentor or master craft worker. While the U.S. apprenticeship system has a good reputation for training skilled workers, its application has not extended much beyond traditional areas like construction and manufacturing. This report determines (1) the use of apprenticeship to train workers, (2) federal and state resources dedicated to administering apprenticeship, and (3) the representation of minorities and women in apprenticeship.

GAO found that: (1) BAT is responsible for registering or having state agencies register apprenticeship programs, promoting apprenticeships, providing technical assistance to establish apprenticeship programs, helping to develop affirmative action plans, and enforcing equal employment standard compliance; (2) in 1990, the number of registered apprentices was equivalent to about 2 percent of the number of U.S. college students; (3) although employment has increased by $18 million since 1980, the number of registered civilian apprentices decreased by 11 percent; (4) the number of apprenticeship programs has remained essentially constant at 43,000 since the mid-1980s, but in 1990 about half of the programs had no active apprentices; (5) since 1980, inflation-adjusted federal resources in support of BAT have decreased by 30 percent and currently comprise about 0.4 percent of Department of Labor spending programs; (6) in fiscal year 1990, 21 of the 30 states with apprenticeship councils reported spending about $18 million on apprenticeship administration and 14 reported spending $29 million on related apprentice instructions; (7) although states spent almost three times as much as BAT on apprenticeship, state apprenticeship directors anticipate state funding to decline over the next few years; (8) of the 68 occupations with the most civilian apprentices, about 32 percent of minority apprentices, versus 23 percent of whites, were in the lowest earning group; (9) women were underrepresented in apprenticeships for high paying jobs; (10) between 1973 and 1983, women's representation in apprenticeship increased from virtually none to 6.6 percent; and (11) apprenticeship officials attributed women's underrepresentation in apprenticeships to their lack of knowledge regarding apprenticeship opportunities, inability to meet entrance requirements, and on-the-job hazing and harassment.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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