Community service organizations, community college apprenticeships and organized labor have been working together to address the barriers to successful completion of apprenticeships. The barriers have been especially daunting for women and people of color. The Trades Mentor Network (TMN) grew out of a need to address this issue and to provide a means to assist at-risk apprentices to persist in the completion of their building trades apprenticeships. The purpose of this case study was to describe the TMN and to investigate the apprentice-mentor relationship to see if, in the perception of the apprentices, it was a useful retention strategy. A literature survey identified the worth of mentoring in other arenas, discussed the fate of women in nontraditional work and the relationship between community colleges and apprenticeships, and reviewed appropriate research methodology for studying this phenomenon. Participant observation, focus groups and interviews in two phases of data collection were used. Archival data contributed to the descriptions, conclusions and recommendations. The TMN and the TMN training were described. The research was limited to the study of woman apprentices. Their stories revealed their experiences as apprentices, their mentor relationship and what it was about the relationship that helped them. In the course of the study, 39 women were invited to be mentored. The 28 women who participated credited being mentored as a significant factor in their continuation or successful completion of their apprenticeship. The retention rates for woman apprentices improved. In 1991, before the TMN existed, the dropout rate for woman apprentices in Washington community and technical colleges was 50%, in 1996, the dropout rate was 12%. The TMN had an effect on the building trades culture. Woman apprentices were stronger, more confident and more expectant of a more inclusive and welcoming environment. Part of the significance of this study was to provide the data to justify the Trades Mentor Network and to convince organized labor to routinely fund it as a retention strategy for all apprentices at risk. Apprentice training is expensive and a low cost, essentially volunteer, program that reduces the risk of losing apprentices is valuable. / Graduation date: 1997

Purpose of this treatise: The aim of this research is to determine, if the skilled labour shortage has had any impact on how construction projects are executed. If there is an impact the study aims to determine the nature and extent of the problem. Design/methodology/approach: A review of related literature was conducted, mainly to ensure that existing research is not replicated, in order to generate new ideas. The quantitative research approach was applied for this research. The questionnaire was designed so that scores can be easily summed in order to obtain an overall measure of the attitudes and opinions of the respondents. Findings: The results revealed that the skilled labour shortage has a negative effect on how construction projects are executed. The results further revealed that the biggest concern amongst employers and management of construction companies was the negative impact the shortage of skilled labour has on the levels of workmanship. Research limitations: The sample (construction companies) is mostly situated in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Practical implications: The research is of importance to managers and supervisors of construction companies of all sizes. The findings of this study will assist in ensuring that projects are efficiently managed irrespective of the current skills crisis in the construction industry.