Six Sparks of Change
My favorite story of equity and parity in the trades came two years ago at a Title 1 school in rural Southern California in Hemet Unified School District - Alessandro High School. I was there with Dovetail Workwear's Women at Work campaign & with my mentors in welding from Lincoln Electric for a visit with Dr. Josh O'Neal's CTE/welding classes. This wasn't my first rodeo, and I had seen several welding booths in classrooms across the country. I typically saw one (if any) women in the booths/classes, which tracked with the national average of 4% in the overall welding/manufacturing industry.
Much like a holiday song, "to what to my surprise!" when I walked on the shop floor and saw six young women in a class of 15. This was significant for two reasons...
First - the vibe in the room. When there is one woman in a group (or one minority population of race, age, color, not just gender) - she typically burns out due to performance anxiety, pressure and lack of "see it, be it" mentors who can provide guidance during the rough spots. I had never seen more than two. BUT SIX?!! WHAT IS THIS MAGIC?!!! It played out exactly as you would think - as they walked the floor with confidence, swagger and varied levels of ability. Some were TIG welders, others Stick, others MIG...but all supported not only each other, but also from the guys in the room. There was no "earning the respect," they had earned it through existing, trying, and failing/succeeding as a mixed bunch of kids. No singular person to feel awkward. Some of the best cheerleaders were men, and it was organic - honest, authentic support because it was normalized to see multiple women in the room, doing the same tasks as them.
My takeaway: make it organic, not a big deal in the room. It should be safe, comfortable and welcoming (so that women STAY in the room!)
Second - if this is what we want to see "in the wild," as I call it - on jobsites, in shops and/or onsite in welding professions, we need to keep all genders together in the learning experience. It's why my Reimagined Rosies camps are for all middle-school kids, gender agnostic - to become comfortable interacting with, succeeding/failing/trying around - each other. The more comfortable the kids are at a younger age, the better (with the right norms, of course). If we're going to train GenAlpha and beyond to create cities on Mars, we're training explorers. Ones who can use their hands, their brains, their AI-assisted copilot computers, and their emotional intelligence to make the world a better place.
I'm here for it - and it all started with the ladies of Alessandro HS welding. I see you ladies!
-Demi C.
