This research report provides background on women’s labor market experiences and opportunities in apprenticeships and nontraditional occupations in the United States to provide context for the forthcoming descriptive study of the 2020 and 2021 Women in Apprenticeships and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) grants.   The report also summarizes the planned activities of the WANTO grantees, the key features of their programs, and the main topic areas to be included in the descriptive study. This study is included in the broader DOL Apprenticeship Evidence-Building Portfolio, a research initiative conducted by the Urban Institute and its partners to better understand several federal apprenticeship expansion efforts.

Key takeaways include:
•         Women remain underrepresented in apprenticeships, despite their numbers increasing over time. Childcare and harassment are among the top barriers to retention of women in registered apprenticeship programs. 
•         The share of women apprentices was lower than men's share for the age group 16 to 34 but was higher than men’s share for the age groups older than 35 years old, including 5 percent of women apprentices ages 55 and older.
•         Pre-apprenticeship programs include a larger share of women than in apprenticeship programs. This suggests that pre-apprenticeships may provide a more open and representative pathway for women to access apprenticeship and employment in non-traditional occupations.

Continued areas of focus in the descriptive study include the following:
•         The different training models used by grantees to deliver pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship, and non-traditional occupational training programs to women.
•         The strategies used to recruit and retain women from historically underrepresented communities.
•         The engagement of grant partners.
•         Promising practices that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic.