EFFECTIVE PRACTICES: Women Moving Up

The Houston READ Commission operates several learning centers in the Houston area. Its students are predominantly young adults (20-30), female, economically disadvantaged, and minority (Hispanic and African-American). Over 50 percent of its students receive welfare benefits.

Since its establishment in 1988 the Commission has experienced great success in taking these "hardest to serve" students through basic literacy to completion of the GED. As it followed up on its GED students, however, it became distressingly clear that earning the GED fell far short of meeting the educational needs of these graduates. The Commission staff began to realize that many of its GED successes continued to be economic failures. Too many exited their literacy program, entered the workforce and in a brief time exited the workforce and reentered welfare dependency. Out of this realization that students needed more than a high school diploma to gain self sufficiency was born the Women Moving Up program.

Since its inception in 1988, the Commission has offered programs to improve women's basic literacy skills so that they may become more employable and can help their children gain the pre-reading skills necessary to succeed in school. In response to the needs of the Commission's women students, who accounted for 71% of the total number of students served in 1995, the Women Moving Up program was launched three years ago by the Commission with the support of a team of volunteer women from Zonta International Club of Houston. The program has grown to include volunteer support from the Greater Houston Women's Foundation and the Federation of Houston Professional Women as well as corporate volunteer initiatives from Exxon, Marathon Oil, Shell Oil, and others. The program is a learning partnership among students, staff, and volunteers who share equally in the building of the program and its success. It is a program of women helping women.

Women Moving Up uses paid and volunteer staff to integrate adult basic literacy instruction with a focus on job-related skills development for traditional and nontraditional careers for women in the Greater Houston area. The basis of a strong support network is formed by a team of corporate volunteer mentors who provide counseling, job shadowing, and inspiration for women in transition from the learning center to further education, training and employment.

As the job market has become increasingly more technological and competitive, it has become imperative that programs exist to provide economically disadvantaged women with opportunities to succeed. Application of the findings of the Texas Adult Literacy Survey has revealed that more than one million adult Houston/Harris County residents, over half of whom are women, are functionally illiterate. Research has established that the greatest predictor of a child's future academic success is the literacy of the child's mother. In households headed by educationally and economically disadvantaged mothers, the educational progress of the children, as well as the family's economic well-being, are at great risk. As reported by Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) in 1995:

• One in five women struggle with low- level literacy.
• Mothers with higher literacy levels have healthier babies, children who are better healthier babies, children who are better prepared for school, and children who stay in school and learn more.
• Sixty percent of female heads of house- holds with less than a high school diploma and children under 18 are living in poverty.
• Three of five women receiving AFDC funds do not have a high school diploma, and the average reading level of mothers receiving AFDC between ages 17 and 21 is below sixth grade.

The Women Moving Up program provides women with the ability to become independent by offering basic life and literacy skills, marketable employment skills in traditional and nontraditional occupations, self esteem and confidence, and relevant work experience.

In the past year, the Commission has linked with Wider Opportunities for Women to provide its Women Moving Up participants with nontraditional workplace training and increased opportunities to acquire well-paid jobs. The Women Moving Up leadership team has identified five industries in Greater Houston that employ 25% or fewer women. These include: construction, electronics, mechanics, transportation, and medical/health. With funding from the Swalm Foundation and assistance of experts and professional women in each of these areas, the Women Moving Up team is designing functional context literacy curriculum in these careers and is providing women with the opportunity to earn higher wages in higher skilled occupations. Commission staff and volunteers have been trained by WOW in functional context instruction.

Corporate mentors support women participants with: 1) skills assessment, 2) literacy training needs, 3) counseling support, 4) pre-employment skills development, 5) success skills training including sexual harassment, legal rights, and access to support groups, 6) worksite visits, and 7) networking source.

Nontraditional employment for women provides a greater opportunity for economic self-sufficiency. Women in nontraditional jobs typically earn 20% TO 30% more than women in traditional occupations, and this additional income can make the difference between family well-being and family poverty. Nontraditional employment offers women wider job opportunities and transferable job skills. These occupations offer advancement potential as most feature a formal career ladder in comparison to traditional female jobs. This translates directly into promotions and increased salary potential. Job satisfaction is more evident as women are provided with a closer "occupational fit." Many women are unaware of the available alternative in nontraditional work, many of which can provide new on-the-job challenges and a greater sense of accomplishment.

Workforce 2000 data indicates that the majority of new entrants to the workforce in coming years will be women and minorities. Job opening will be available in trade and technical fields not only because of new job growth but also due to large numbers of retiring workers. Therefore, it is essential that appropriate education and training exist to prepare women for the full spectrum of careers available to them. That is what the HRC's Women Moving Up program continues to undertake.

The Women Moving Up program supports the Commission's mission to educate adults in Greater Houston in literacy and success skills, to provide opportunities for increased self esteem and development of leadership abilities, and to enable them to become economically self-sufficient and contributing members of Houston's workforce and society.