The sisters are doing it for themselves.
Women are flocking to typically male-dominated fields, a trend explained by Harvard historian Nancy Koehn on Boston Public Radio.
“Women haven’t traditionally been party to recruitment efforts,” she said. “Now, a whole bunch of people ... are trying to pull women into the trades by virtue of pulling them into vocational education.”
Industries like iron welding, construction and trucking are recruiting women as baby boomers retire and millennials flood to more tech-oriented fields.
“The trades are finding declining enrollment in them, partly because baby boomers are retiring, partly because vocational education attainment levels are falling,” Koehn said. “They’re in need of people, and lots and lots of women are interested in these jobs.”
She also clarified that despite growth, male-dominated industries have a long way to go when it comes to tapping into the female workforce.
“We’re still talking about single digit proportions of women in these different fields,” Koehn said. “It’s not Rosie The Riveter.”
She noted problems with sexual harassment and maternity leave, which may affect how women think about trades.
But, as gender stereotypes continue to dissolve, one factor pushes women into these fields despite challenges.
“A lot of women really want to do this,” she said. “They really want to do it.”
Nancy Koehn is the James E. Robison Chair of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. To hear her interview in its entirety, click on the audio player above.
