Higher Pay for Early Childhood Educators

Workforce • National Head Start Association

The National Head Start Association aligned with more than a dozen stakeholders this year to increase compensation for the early childhood educator profession. Nearly half of these critically important educators live with families that depend on public assistance.

The groups unveiled a groundbreaking framework that defines key components of the early childhood education profession—including standards, qualifications, roles, supports, and compensation. The framework forms the basis for recommendations for higher pay that NHSA says “reflects the value, importance, and return on investment generated by early childhood educators’ highly skilled work.”

“[We] are hopeful that the framework will serve as a bridge from the present to the future, empowering the current workforce, shaping tomorrow’s workforce, and ensuring quality early learning experiences for all children,” says NHSA Executive Director Yasmina Vinci. — Lisa Boylan

(MirageC/Moment)

Beating Back Bullying

Workforce • British Columbia Construction Association

When the British Columbia Construction Association saw that workers were leaving the industry at an alarming rate because of hazing, harassment, and bullying at construction sites, it implemented a Builders Code program to change worksite culture.

“Attrition for women in the trade in the first year is 60 percent or higher,” says Lisa Stevens, chief strategy officer for BCCA. She estimates the attrition rate for men is 40 to 50 percent.

The goal of the program is to attract and retain new workers by changing the industry’s culture and addressing negative behavior that makes worksites unpleasant and unsafe. “We build our buildings to code; let’s build our workforce to code, too.” Stevens says. “Harassment and bullying are not tolerated on a Builders Code worksite.” — Lisa Boylan

More Women Music Makers

Workforce • Production Music Association

Equality for women in production music is the goal of an Inclusion Committee formed by the Production Music Association. Working with the Geena Davis Institute, the committee will examine gender in the industry and work to achieve gender parity.

“People are shocked to learn that a mere 3 percent of music composers in media are female, and this figure could be even lower in production music. Raising this percentage is not only the right thing to do but the smart thing to do because it’s been demonstrated time and again that when women achieve equal status, everyone prospers,” says Mirette Seireg, chair of the committee and founder of Mpath Music Library. — Lisa Boylan

More Views on the News

Workforce • News Leaders Association

The stories of communities are best told by diverse newsrooms, says the News Leaders Association. Annually, NLA conducts a Newsroom Diversity Survey to gauge diversity in the journalism field.

“It’s critically important that the industry reflect the many shades of diversity, not just in our staffing but also in our news reports,” says Katrice Hardy, NLA diversity chair. “How can we truly provide authentic storytelling if we aren’t employing diverse news staffs?”

Past surveys showed some improvements in general newsroom diversity, but little diversity in leadership. That finding prompted NLA to launch the Emerging Leaders Institute to strengthen the pipeline of future leaders. — Rasheeda Childress

 

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