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A U.S. Department of Labor will help Oregon Tradeswomen Inc. and its partners recruit more women into apprenticeship programs, track their progress and retain them as part of the construction workforce, according to an OTI spokeswoman.

The association partnered with its sister organizations in Washington state and California to receive the two-year, $647,748 grant, which was provided by the Labor Department’s Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations program.

The grant will allow standardization of data collection for tracking women who enter and complete apprenticeship programs in Oregon and 12 other western states, and provide technical assistance for women desiring to enter apprenticeship programs, OTI spokeswoman Mary Ann Naylor said.

鈥淭he goal is to increase the number of women going into apprenticeship programs,鈥� she said. 鈥淩ight now, we don’t have any way of reporting women who enter and complete them.鈥�

While OTI Executive Director Connie Ashbrook was performing research for the grant application, she found that half of Oregon’s registered apprenticeship programs do not have even one woman enrolled, Naylor said.

鈥淭he ultimate goal is to create systemic change in the number of women pursuing and completing registered apprenticeship programs,鈥� she said.

OTI received the grant in June, and has begun working with its partners to develop an online technical resource center that will be used by all state and federal apprenticeship programs in the 13-state western region. The Western Resource Center for Women and Girls in Apprenticeship and Career & Technical Education will aid education, training and recruitment.

Experienced tradeswomen also will have an advisory and leadership role in the project, Naylor said.