About 40 high school girls from Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska are attending a 3-day camp to introduce them to careers that are not traditional for women. The Career Camp at Northeast Community College in Norfolk offers a taste of professions ranging from electro-mechanical technology and building construction to drafting and accounting. Educator Rebecca Hasty says there are some very practical reasons for the program. Economics is a big part, she says, because the jobs pay more than traditional women’s jobs like secretary or cosmetology. “These nontraditional occupations pay at least twice as much,” she says, “generally three or four or five times times as much” Hasty says there’s also a federal mandate to try and get more women into construction, where a shortage of American men is forcing companies to hire from other countries.
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