Better paying jobs for women
Encouraging female students to enter higher paying, professional fields is the goal of a pilot mentoring program started Monday at Warren County High School.
The program is sponsored by the Tennessee Economic Council on Women, a state agency created by the General Assembly five years ago to address the economic concerns and needs of women in Tennessee. It will feature weekly professional women speakers who will talk with local students concerning their careers and educational backgrounds.
Barbara Devaney, executive director of the Tennessee Economic Council on Women, explained the motive behind the pilot program.
“Traditionally women go into low-paying fields and earn, on average, only 70 percent of what men do. What we want to do is to broaden girls’ knowledge of careers they can go into and ones that pay enough to support a family,” she said.
As the local program is funded by Hospital Corporation of America, which owns and operates River Park Hospital, its focus is on the health care industry and will be geared toward the close to 250 students enrolled in the high school’s health sciences department, 75 percent of whom are female. Scheduled speakers include directors of nursing, physician’s assistants, speech pathologists, dietitians, nurse practitioners, dental hygienists, massage therapists and pharmacists.
Devaney said the program is a win-win situation for all involved. “This is a medically under-served area and HCA needs more health care professionals in Warren County. The students will see some of the well-paid career options available to them and hopefully some will be motivated to follow in the speakers’ footsteps,” she said.
The highlight of the pilot mentoring program will occur in April when a day-long workshop will be held for 100 female students at McMinnville Country Club. The day will feature several mini-workshops which will be led by health care entrepreneurs.