The participation of women in the skilled trades increased appreciably between 1960 and 1970; however, the rate of increase was not as large as could have been expected if women had entered the skilled trades at the same rate they entered the total civilian labor market. The gap between men's and women's median earnings was greater in 1970 than in 1960, but in the skilled trades the decrease in women's earnings in proportion to men's was smaller. The participation of women in the skilled trades appears to be higher in larger companies in large metropolitan areas than it is on the average nationwide. Also, proportionately more minority women are employed in the skilled trades by such companies. Women continue to be underrepresented in both apprenticeship training programs and vocational/technical education programs for the skilled trades even though affirmative action regulations and special stimulus programs have made some gains. Women have been well represented as participants in federal government training programs; however, they have been disproportionately concentrated in programs which lead to low-paying and low-skill jobs. Government funded outreach projects for women designed to prepare and place women in pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship, and traditionally male blue-collar jobs have increased from one program in 1971 to over eighty in 1978. Now it is time to determine the effectiveness of these programs and to analyze which combination of factors is optimal--the project designs, the skills/characteristics of women selected, the support/training offered, and the follow-up services. (BM)