Hiigh schoolls arre showiing
young women tthatt a
career iin the mariine
iindusttrry iis a viiablle opttiion..
careers in the marine field.
“The feedback was great,” says
Stacey Palmer, industry/education liaison for the association. “We overheard
a few saying, ‘This isn’t as boring as I
thought it would be,’ and we heard a
few of them say, ‘I could do this.’ ”
Palmer says the industry isn’t on the
radar for young people, and cites a U.S.
Department of Education Web site that
lists about 16 general career paths and
83 or more occupations under those
paths. The marine industry, she says, is
not mentioned.
“It’s important for us to get on the
radar for young people because we
have an aging work force, and a lot of
these companies, despite the current
economic situation, are still growing
and actively hiring,” Palmer says.
In addition to the “Women in Trades
and Technology” event, the association
recently partnered with “Jobs for
Maine Graduates” for an event focusing
on the marine and composites trade.
More than 150 students were scheduled to take part.
Also, the group takes part in the
“Building Bridges” program, in which
teachers are introduced to the marine
industry and create a teaching unit built
around the field. For example, they take
geometry and apply it to sail design.
“Even though some of these teachers
are in schools right near the coastline,
they’re admitting to me they had no
idea [the] variety of jobs in this small
area in our state,” Palmer says.
A mother/daughter day
On the other side of the country,
Washington’s Skagit Valley College also
is hosting events designed to bring
women into the field. The school held a
free mother/daughter technology event,
which served as a one-day immersion
program into marine technology, and
about 40 girls and their moms took part.
The International Yacht Restoration
School typically has one to three
women in a class of around 32 students.
“They got to spend the day doing really fun stuff that sometimes girls don’t
get to do,” says Ann Avary, executive
director of the state’s Center of Excellence for Marine Manufacturing and
Technology. “Maybe a light bulb goes
off and they say, ‘This is something I
want to do.’ It’s exposing kids in a general sense, but in those events it’s exposing girls to the possibilities.”
The college also hosts a big festival
each year and part of that is dedicated to
attracting women to the marine trades.
“More young women are looking at
careers that have been traditionally perceived as careers that males go into,”
Avary says. “They’re taking those on,
and we’re seeing women enter the
trades at all levels, which is great.” n
IYRS
