Clinical trial NCT04247880: The Use of Mentoring to Promote Well-being for Female SMART Members
Official title: Advancing Women in the Sheet Metal Workers' Trade: A Coordinated Mentoring Program to Promote Safety, Health, and Well-being
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Harassment, Non-Sexual
Harassment, Sexual
Bullying, Workplace
Mental Stress
Work-Related Condition
Work-related Injury
Work Related Stress
Lead sponsor: University of Washington
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: The Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR)
name: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH/CDC)
First posted: 2020-01-30
Enrollment: 230
Sex: FEMALE
Minimum age (years): 21
Maximum age (years): 65
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: Women are highly underrepresented in the construction skilled trades. In addition to facing the industry's well-known physical risks, women are subjected to discrimination, harassment, and skills under-utilization. As a result, tradeswomen have increased risk for injury, stress-related health effects, and high attrition rates from apprenticeship programs, thus perpetuating their minority status. Mentoring is a well-established technique for learning technical and personal navigation skills in new or challenging social environments. The investigators propose development and dissemination of a mentorship program through local unions of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART), and evaluating its success in reducing women's injury and work stress, while improving retention.

Detailed description: Journey-level workers will be trained on effective mentoring techniques, and matched to approximately 100 women apprentices within participating local unions. Mentees will be followed for two years within the mentorship program, with another 100 women apprentices in locals not receiving the mentorship training similarly followed as controls. The impact of participation in mentoring programs will be measured through apprentices' experience of stress, coping mechanisms, safety climate, and retention in the apprenticeship programs. Specifically, the investigators propose to:

Aim 1: Develop a mentorship training program for journey-level sheet metal workers to assist women apprentices in navigating the challenges faced by women in trades

Aim 2: Disseminate the training and assist locals in developing effective mentorship programs

Aim 3: Evaluate the effectiveness of the mentoring programs specified in Aims 1 and 2

Aim 4: Disseminate the best practices for supporting women apprentices in the skilled trades.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* All mentors must be journey-level sheet metal workers that are members of the SMART (International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers) Union. All mentees and control apprentices must be apprentice-level sheet metal workers that are members of the SMART Union, and identify as woman.

Exclusion Criteria:

* No exclusions will be made on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, age, disability or religion for mentors, mentees, and control apprentices. No exclusions will be made on the basis of gender for mentors. For mentees and control apprentices, those that do not identify as a woman will be excluded.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Stress
timeFrame: 4 year period
measure: Job satisfaction
timeFrame: 4 year period
measure: Social support
timeFrame: 4 year period
measure: Work-related risks
timeFrame: 4 year period
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Retention in the trades
timeFrame: 4 year period
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Phoenix
country: United States
facility: Phoenix Area Local 359
state: Arizona
city: Glendora
country: United States
facility: Sheet Metal Workers Local 105
state: California
city: San Jose
country: United States
facility: Sheet Metal Workers Local 104
state: California
city: Denver
country: United States
facility: Sheet Metal Workers Local 9
state: Colorado
city: Atlanta
country: United States
facility: Sheet Metal Workers Local 85
state: Georgia
city: Honolulu
country: United States
facility: Hawaii Sheet Metal Workers Local 293
state: Hawaii
city: Hillside
country: United States
facility: Sheet Metal Workers Local 73
state: Illinois
city: Indianapolis
country: United States
facility: Sheet Metal Workers Local 20
state: Indiana
city: Dorchester
country: United States
facility: Sheet Metal Workers Local 17
state: Massachusetts
city: Springfield
country: United States
facility: Sheet Metal Workers Local 63
state: Massachusetts
city: Maplewood
country: United States
facility: Sheet Metal Workers Local 10
state: Minnesota
city: Saint Louis
country: United States
facility: Sheet Metal Workers Local 36
state: Missouri
city: Albuquerque
country: United States
facility: Sheet Metal Workers Local 49
state: New Mexico
city: New York
country: United States
facility: Sheet Metal Workers Local 28
state: New York
city: Columbus
country: United States
facility: Columbus Sheet Metal Workers Apprenticeship
state: Ohio
city: Portland
country: United States
facility: Sheet Metal Workers Local 16
state: Oregon
city: Philadelphia
country: United States
facility: Sheet Metal Workers Local 19
state: Pennsylvania
city: San Antonio
country: United States
facility: Sheet Metal Workers Local 67
state: Texas
city: Everett
country: United States
facility: Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 66
state: Washington
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Washington
name: Marissa G Baker, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: University of Washington
name: Lily M Monsey, BA
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
References: