How often do you see Female workers in the metal trades?

[Bluox]

I was talking to my neighbour just before Christmas, his daughter is doing a boilermaker (welding) apprenticeship with BHP. 75% of them are female. Knocked my cotton socks off I'll give you the tip but good on them. Got thinking how thing have changed, males taking on traditional female jobs.

So where did the Boilermakers find that many female ex cons ?
Bob

 

[Coaldust]

Truck Shop,

My experience with female drivers, in general, has been very positive. Easy on the equipment, less apt to take risky chances, trucks cabs are cleaner, and they tend to listen to good advice without the know-it-all, I've driven four million miles B.S. blah, blah.
They tend to do a better job with their e-logs. Female drivers are well-represented on the slope. Heavy haul, even.

Wasilla, AK even has female celebrity heavy haul drivers. Lol True dat.

 

[Coaldust]

"So where did the Boilermakers find that many female ex cons ?
Bob"


That's hilarious. Maybe the female felons are less violent in nature?

 

[old-iron-habit]

A number of years ago there was a female ironworker in CA that ran a number of jobs for the subcontractor we selected on a number of projects. She worked her way up from a day one apprentice, connecting, tying rods, welding, detailing, etc. She was a super good hand. She has been retired a number of years now. There was not a lot of women in the trades when she broke out. She was about 6 ft tall, slim, strong, and could shimmy iron with the best of them. The guys respected her. She ran a tight ship as a crew boss to.

 

[old-iron-habit]

JD955SC,
I could see that happening. That's tragic all around. Leaves a terrible impression and that is what we've trying to get away from for the last 40 years.

We didn't have any issues like that, which I was aware of at the Portland Community College ThinkBig program. The sponsoring dealers did a good job training mentors for the ThinkBig students and there was a group effort to make the program work. My dealer principle paid the mentors in the shop a bonus to work with the students.

I would say the majority of the female ThinkBig graduates didn't stay in the shop very long. They went into PSSR roles, sales, Standard Jobs, and warranty administration.

I have been on projects where the management said to keep a female wither she did her job or not to make the required quota. Not on my watch. I cashed a couple up and then the hall sent me good ones. It never mattered to me what gender or race anybody was as long as they were good craftsman and gave me a fair shake.

 

[Coaldust]

Hiring for diversity quotas and not qualification is done all the time in Alaska by non-compete, section 8 native corporations with federal contracts. Gravy city. The work doesn't get done,of course, so contractors are hired to finish the job.

I especially notice that with the native owned heavy equipment dealerships. It's a cycle where the native corp buys the successful equipment dealership, it fails, the dealership is sold to a private entity and becomes successful again.

 

[DMiller]

Have worked around or with quite a few women I will give credit were a credit for their work choice
Drivers, welders, mechanics and technicians in fields that were predominantly male
I still have issues with those that have no business where they chose as use their femininity to be assisted or hand held to get work done when others must get by on their own alone.

 

[56wrench]

It never mattered to me what gender or race anybody was as long as they were good craftsman and gave me a fair shake.

i agree. any of the females that have stayed with the trades have to be as good or better than the males just to put up with all the extra crap. percentage-wise, i've seen way more guys that deserved to be fired than women

 

[John C.]

I don't have much of an opinion either way on women in the work place. I have known and worked with a few in the trades. Met a women when I was going to night school for apprenticeship training who worked on fork lifts for some government entity. She had beat up hands that looked as bad as mine did at that time. Great attitude and high grades in the classes we had to attend. When I got a job at the IH dealer, I started sweeping floors, putting blocking away after use and dumping garbage every night. I got moved up to apprentice and they hired a woman to take my spot. I ended up sweeping floors, moving blocking and dumping cans again because she didn't have the strength? A couple of months later they let her go. I figured someone in a suit hired her off a resume and never even interviewed her.

 

[Pixie]

When I started in building construction they 'let' me try everything. One of the challenging jobs was mason tender on a 3 story dry stack/block-bond condo building. Lugging cement blocks all day was tough. Then I got to be the mortar maker with a 3 bag power mixer. I was in the best shape of my life that summer after lifting 90 pound bags into the mixer and all the shovelling ! But they just couldn't get rid of me so they let me do framing and later sent me to a Federal job and all-in-all taught me a lot.

I learned lots more when I bought my first ( crooked) house that had no working utilities. Other jobs were installing retail store interiors in different places and rebuilding old wooden boats; besides the usual framing and siding for a local contractor.

I like a challenge and love figuring out how to do stuff and designing stuff and I'd still way rather break rocks than have to be nice to people who are looking for a disagreement.

 

[DMiller]

Nothing but respect for those that do well in the trades Male or Female but Females have always been slighted and expected more of as I have seen. Many trades have lost much of the stigma yet it does remain.

 

[56wrench]

Around here i.n the last 20 years there have been a lot more females in the trades. Kudos to them.

 

[Legdoc]

I will try to make a long story short. My oldest daughter who is now 32 has an interesting career story. She played softball from Pixie League ultimately playing tournament level ball through High School. She was good enough that as a Freshman she played catcher on the varsity team. It was like her glove was a magnet and the ball was steel. She was also a slugger. The school team got to State and the Tournament team went to Nationals. She also played volleyball and basketball. She is quite driven and graduated in the top 10. While she was always helping on the ranch she didn't know the difference between a piston and a push rod. She obtained a BA and then a MA in English at UTSA with honors and planned to get a PhD but got pissed when she could only get a part time instructor position at several local Universities as they are wanting part time staff to eliminate benefits. She found a instructor position in SA at a Technical College based at San Antonio International Airport where she fell in love with aviation. Soon she enrolled in the airframe and powerplant program ultimately graduating at the top of her class. She passed both FAA A&P examinations on the first try and is building experience to test for IA Certificate.

 

[Coaldust]

Wow! Good for her. Awesome story. Is She still teaching? Sounds like Hallmark University.

 

[Legdoc]

Yes, Hallmark. Not teaching but is the shop manager at a aircraft repair facility.

 

[AzIron]

I have worked around a few women in the trades and most of the time it's been good to be on the crew 2 experiences were bad but that was more to laziness and personality conflicts than anything but most of the time I see the story like this just like the indpent auto mechanic I use for my vehicles

He hired a 20 year old gal enrolled at the local votech she was a go getter for the most part and really wanted to learn but she physically did not have the size to keep up and muscle things like a guy now that has also been my experience on a plant job doing flange torques on pipe the woman was running the backup wrench and couldn't hold torque she just was not big enough

All of that can be worked around but most men dont have to learn the tricks that physical size will put in your way and therefore when most women hit the field they ar expected to do the job of a 200 pound guy that's 6 foot and it wont happen if they happen to hit a crew with the small guy that's 5 foot 8 and 165 pounds it will be a better experience but most get ruined by bad experiences before they get the experience to work around obstacles

 

[Pixie]

Ya, a woman has to learn how to use leverage to her advantage. Bracing a foot against an immovable object, jacks, longer cheater bar and just how to position yourself to get the most possible force onto something without crashing to the floor upon success !!

 

[John C.]

I suppose that is my gripe about women who think they want into the big wrench game. Put them on the end of a 600 pound torque wrench pulling got 450 foot pounds doing excavator circle bearing bolts and they fade away pretty fast. I've worked with plenty of 165 pound men that did it all day long. It's too much to ask of a 125 pound women. That type of person might be good for the mental work of troubleshooting, maybe maintenance and using the small wrenches. I'm sure there are women who can do the big stuff. They are just smart enough to get into something else.

 

[Truck Shop]

You can't blame anyone for trying. Better to try and fail than not try at all. Everyone has there capacity. Trucks are built so low to the ground anymore the great big burley hairy chested
men with a puss gut and hair growing out their ears can't get under them to work. So the skinny guy or gal gets all the crap work while mister biscuits and gravy fills the wiper/washer jug.
Unless a shop has a post lift for Mr BiG Biscuits and Gravy he's pretty useless. The shop can afford HyTorque guns for a bunch less than paying mister big buns for nothing .

 

[56wrench]

around here the large guys are the partsmen because they are not flexible or wiry or agile enough to get into the tight spots on newer trucks and equipment. the ideal body shape would be like an orangutan