President Trump is right to set an ambitious goal of reaching 1M registered apprentices. It’s the kind of bold target the country needs to expand opportunity and strengthen the workforce.

But setting a goal alone won’t get us there, especially when the administration’s own policy choices would undermine the effort. The Trump administration’s efforts to roll back programs and protections that give women a fair shot in the workforce doesn’t just impact equity—it limits scale. 

Simply put: if the goal is 1M apprentices, women aren’t optional; they’re essential.  

As Equal Pay Day arrives on March 26, the contradiction comes into stark focus. Women, on average, had to work roughly three extra months last year to earn what men were paid. This gender wage gap is persistent and has widened. It reflects a history of inequitable policies, from the systematic devaluation of work done by women to practices that have crowded women into lower-wage jobs and industries. 

Closing the wage gap means breaking down these patterns, and registered apprenticeships can be a powerful tool to do so. The payoff would benefit everyone: closing the gender wage gap could boost U.S. GDP by 2.8%, adding $540B in wages to the economy. Since 45% of mothers earn at least half of their family’s total income, closing the gender wage gap would also increase family economic security and create opportunities for the next generation. 

Registered apprenticeships combine paid work with structured training so that workers earn while they learn. Through apprenticeship, workers build skills that translate into long-term careers with clear pathways to advancement and economic mobility. It’s a model that works, and it has consistently delivered strong outcomes for workers and employers alike. Workers who complete a registered apprenticeship earn about 18% more on average than those who do not.

Yet women remain underrepresented in registered apprenticeships, particularly in sectors like construction and manufacturing. Despite making up nearly 50% of the labor force and more than 40% of workers without a bachelor’s degree, women account for only 14% of active apprentices and just 1.5% of active apprentices in the construction trades. The math doesn’t work. If apprenticeship growth relies only on the same old pipelines, we won’t reach 1M apprentices. 

We know what works when it comes to recruiting and retaining women in apprenticeship: targeted outreach helps women see apprenticeship and related careers as a real possibility; pre-apprenticeships provide industry-specific knowledge and the exposure needed to get in the door; mentorship offers crucial support navigating workplace challenges; clear policies that address harassment make workplaces more welcoming; and wraparound supports like childcare ensure women have a safe place for their kids to learn while they work. Such approaches have contributed to a three-fold increase in the number of active women construction apprentices over the past decade.

But programs that provide these services, foremost among them the U.S. Department of Labor’s Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) grants, are at risk. Early in 2025, citing “illegal DEI,” the Trump administration canceled two cohorts of active WANTO grants, which cut off vital funding to key pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs for women.

The administration’s efforts to roll back DEI do more than jeopardize specialized programs like WANTO. They weaken the civil rights framework that ensures women and women of color, in particular, have equal access to apprenticeships and employment more broadly. For example, President Trump rescinded an executive order signed by President Johnson in 1965 and strengthened through amendments by presidents of both parties, intended to ensure equal employment opportunity and prevent discrimination among federal contractors. And he rolled back Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s harassment guidance. These actions can discourage businesses, unions, community colleges, and training providers from adopting strategies that create fair and welcoming apprenticeship opportunities for women.

The administration should reverse its course here. Even if it doesn’t, Congress has a role to play. Here are four practical actions with bipartisan appeal that federal policymakers can take now:

  • Invest in workforce strategies proven to expand the apprenticeship pipeline. This includes proactive outreach and pre-apprenticeship programs that help recruit and retain women apprentices and modern data systems capable of showing program access and outcomes by gender. 
  • Ensure registered apprenticeships are good jobs that lead to quality careers. Women are overrepresented in care and service industries that tend to have lower-wage jobs. These industries have not adopted registered apprenticeship at the same scale as construction or manufacturing. As policymakers expand apprenticeship to industries that are newer to the approach, they must ensure that employers who sponsor apprenticeships commit to predictable wage increases as workers gain skills and competencies, safety standards, and access to good benefits. 
  • Pass policies that recognize that care needs are workforce needs. Over half of workers who are also caregivers are women, and that responsibility that can make the long-term commitment of apprenticeship difficult without support. Policymakers can address this reality by expanding access to affordable, quality childcare and to paid family and medical leave benefits. Such policies wouldn’t just benefit women—they would benefit entire families and many small- and mid-sized businesses.         
  • Support federal agencies and programs that maintain women’s access to apprenticeships. Specifically, policymakers should protect the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s commitment to bipartisanship and preserve funding for the Labor Department’s Women’s Bureau, the only federal agency mandated by Congress to represent and promote the interests of working women in the United States. They should also reject efforts to stop federal grantees from administering legal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.   

We won’t reach 1M apprentices by limiting opportunity. If the administration’s goal is real scale, then the path forward is simple: invest in what works and ensure women are fully part of the pipeline.

Wendy Chun-Hoon is the president and executive director of the Center for Law and Social Policy, and previously served as director of the Women’s Bureau at the Labor Department. Brooke DeRenzis is the CEO of National Skills Coalition.