Tools and Tiaras' teaching trade skills to girls

The research

A recent survey from consulting firm McKinsey and Company found 74% of 18 to 20 year olds perceive a stigma associated with choosing vocational school over a traditional four-year university.  

Meanwhile, 79% of respondents said their parents wanted them to pursue a college education after high school; only 5% said the same about vocational school.

The combination of the aging American population and too few young people entering the trades means the manufacturing and skilled-labor pool is shrinking.

McKinsey’s research shows that for every one tradesperson who enters the labor market through 2032, there will be 20 job openings for them. 

About Tools and Tiaras

Tools and Tiaras is a nonprofit on a mission to change the stigma about trades, especially when it comes to girls. 

Girls as young as six get hands-on lessons in carpentry, electrical and plumbing during workshops and summer camps. 

Tools and Tiaras is the brainchild of Judaline Cassidy, an immigrant from Trinidad who became a plumber when college was out of reach for her here in America. 

Now, Cassidy is using her success to show the next generation a career in trades could empower them, too.