Youth and Women in Registered Apprenticeship

Registered Apprenticeship (RA) is an industry-driven career pathway where employers can develop and prepare their future workforce and individuals can obtain paid work experience with a mentor, progressive wage increases, classroom instruction, and a portable, industry-recognized credential. Registered Apprenticeships are industry-led and are approved and validated by the U.S. Department of Labor or a State Apprenticeship Agency. Industries with Registered Apprenticeship include advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, information technology, and construction, among others.

Contributor
Lucas Arbulu is an economist in the Office of Apprenticeship, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor.

Editor
Kyle DeMaria is a workforce analyst and presidential management fellow in the Office of Policy Development and Research, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor.

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During National Apprenticeship Week — November 17th to 23rd in 2024 — workforce development professionals come together to showcase apprenticeship programs across the country and efforts to expand the paradigm to new fields and participants. Now in its 10th year in 2024, National Apprenticeship Week is celebrating a decade of building engagement, expansion, and innovation around the apprenticeship model. In this edition of Trendlines, we look at data from the Registered Apprenticeship program to explore several ways the apprenticeship model has expanded to reach new career fields and participants.

Trends in Youth Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship has grown the most among youth apprentices aged 24 years and younger, both in terms of the number of youth apprentices served and in the youth share of apprentices served. The number of youth apprentices served increased by about 100,000 between the 2020 and 2024 fiscal years. During this five-year period, the youth share of apprentices rose by roughly 4 percentage points, from 37% to 41% of apprentices served.

The first Youth Apprenticeship Week was held May 5th to 11th in 2024 to celebrate the benefits of apprenticeship for youth and included more than 400 events across the country.

Total number of apprentices served by age, FY2020 to FY2024

Note: The “total served” population includes both active apprentices and apprentices who exited a program in a given fiscal year. Fiscal years begin in October and end in September.
Source: analysis of data from the Registered Apprenticeship Partners Information Database System (RAPIDS, FY2020–FY2024)

Industry Participation of Youth Apprentices

What industries are seeing the largest growth in youth apprenticeship? While the greatest increase in youth apprentices occurred in the construction industry between FY2020 and FY2024 (adding more than 45,000 youth apprentices), other industries have seen large growth proportionally. For example, there was a 250% increase in youth apprentices in professional, scientific, and technical service companies over this period (an increase from about 600 to 2,000 apprentices); in this industry, youth apprentices were commonly employed in app development and cybersecurity roles, among others.

Top 10 industries for growth in youth apprentices, FY2020 to FY2024

Note: The “total served” population includes both active apprentices and apprentices who exited a program in a given fiscal year. Fiscal years begin in October and end in September. Omitted from this figure include apprentices with no industry recorded.
Source: analysis of data from RAPIDS (FY2020–FY2024)

Female Participation in Apprenticeship

The number of women participating in apprenticeship has increased sizably over the last decade. In FY2024, there were almost 100,000 women active in apprenticeship in various industries across the country. This is approximately a 214% increase in women apprentices since FY2015. Despite the 10-year increase in the number of women apprentices, women still only made up about 14% of active apprentices in FY2024. This is about a 6 percentage point increase from FY2015, but more work is needed to continue to expand women’s participation in apprenticeship.

Number of women apprentices, FY2015 to FY2024

Source: analysis of data from RAPIDS (FY2015–FY2024)

New Report Spotlight: Equity in Grantmaking

In August 2024, the Department of Labor’s Chief Evaluation Office released a new report entitled Equity in Grantmaking: A Review of Barriers and Strategies for Funders Considering Improvement Opportunities. This report explores research and strategies related to equity in the discretionary grantmaking process based on a systematic review of publicly available literature and interviews with Federal and philanthropic grantmakers. The report describes how funders define equity in the context of awarding grants, common barriers and promising action steps to increase equity, and measurement strategies to help funders track their progress.

Labor Market Metrics

An image showing recent labor market metrics including the unemployment rate, the number of job openings, the labor force participation rate, the number of people employed part time for economic reasons, the number of initial unemployment insurance claims, and the change in nonfarm payroll employment.

Suggested Citation
Kyle DeMaria (ed.) and Lucas Arbulu, “Youth and Women in Registered Apprenticeship,” Trendlines, U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration, November 2024, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/opder/DASP/Trendlines/posts/2024_11/Trendlines_November_2024.html.