Attract women to your table at career events with our banners featuring bold and vibrant women working in manufacturing & engineering careers.
Adam Balogh and Peder Aune are instructors in the Machine
Technology Program at Laney College in Oakland, California and
lead their Department’s WomenTech initiative to increase female
enrollment. They had an opportunity to recruit high school graduates
to their manufacturing program at a career fair but how as men do they
attract women to come over to their table to talk to them?
They hung a Women in Precision Metal Cutting Careers banner
featuring female role models. It worked, in 3 hours
they collected More Interest Forms from 12 women and 10 men. Said
Adam, the Chair of the Department, “An all male event, discourages
women from attending but a women-specific event does not discourage
men from attending.”
An intentional decision was made by the WomenTech team to not use the term “Manufacturing” on the banner because unfortunately that conjures up an image of monotonous low-paid work and the field historically has not been a friendly one for female employees. Precision Metal Cutting on the other hand sounds interesting, calls out the “Maker” aspect of the career, and seems like it could potentially be lucrative. In fact, graduates of this program start at $55k - $87k + benefits with only a certificate and have a 100% placement rate.
Women bring a different perspective to the classroom and the workplace. Don't let them miss out on the possibility of a high paying career in Manufacturing or Engineering. It's up to you to show them what they could achieve and help them see themselves in these careers.
