Thinking Beyond The Shadow:
The Nontraditional Career Resource Center at Rutgers University puts a new twist on Groundhog Job Shadow Day. The NCRC is now looking for Middle and High Schools from across the state interested in providing opportunities for their students to "shadow" professional mentors for the day in jobs that traditionally have been largely uncommon for their gender.
Students will spend part of their day on the job site of an occupation that is nontraditional for their gender, and is a high growth, high demand field for the state of New Jersey. This year's placements include nursing and allied health for males, and building trades, science, and engineering for females.
The NCRC's events are a New Jersey twist on Groundhog Job Shadow Day, a national program co-sponsored by the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education, Junior Achievement, America's Promise, and corporate sponsors ING, Nelnet and Valpak. The program is intended to inspire kids to be enthusiastic about their studies by helping them connect what they learn in school to everyday jobs.
Strategies that increase girls' success in the sciences are also effective with boys, especially those from under-represented groups. (Thom, M. 2001. Balancing the Equation. National Council for Research on Women.)