I recently ran across this awesome summer day camp for girls (too bad there isn’t one for adult women!) ROSIE’S GIRLS is a three week day camp for girls (6th-8th grade). It a place to learn skills (carpentry, welding, etc) that build confidence. PLUS they get to use power tools! This is an awesome way to introduce girls to career options that even today don’t seem accessible to women (did you know that as of 2006 the Department of Labor counts only 6% of professional welders as women?! ***)
FACT: women can weld just as good (and sometimes better) than men. Brains, not brawn makes for an excellent welder… and check out these girls WELDING!
***HOLY SH&%$# *** I just looked up more recent statistics (from 2008) and the percent of women employed in the welding/ metal industries has GONE DOWN! WTF? check it out:
Welding, soldering and brazing… 4.7% women (5.9% in 2006)
Sheet metal workers…. 4.8% women (3.1% in 2006)
Pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters…. 1.5% (1.9% in 2006)
Tool and die…. 1%
Structural Iron / Steel… 0.9%
You can check out these reports and many others about women in nontraditional occupations from the Department of Labor online.
And lets brainstorm! what can WE do to make these “nontraditional” occupations “traditional?”