In my book, Women Who Make: Inspiring Stories of Women Who Found Fulfilling STEM Careers in Manufacturing Making Things with Meaning, I make the case for ‘why’ manufacturing is an excellent career choice for young women.
It helps them achieve economic empowerment, and also provides an opportunity for manufacturers to close the talent shortage gap.
Employers recognize that even though the demand for manufacturing and STEM-related jobs is growing, the pool of workers isn’t.
According to estimates, over the next decade, there will be a demand for 4.6 million manufacturing jobs: 2.4 million of these jobs are expected to go unfilled due to the skills gap. (Source: National Association of Manufacturing, https://www.nam.org/facts-about-manufacturing/)
To get around this talent and skills gap shortage, employers must start looking toward untapped talent pools. Employing more women, one of STEM’s most under-represented groups, could be the answer.
However, this where the opportunity, as well as the challenge for manufacturing employers, lies.
As I highlight in my book, there are many companies at the forefront that have been hiring, welcoming and keeping women in the workforce. Yet this is not all companies. Evidence that points to this are women make up 20% of engineering graduates, yet comprise only 13% of the engineering workforce. (Source: Susan S. Silbey, “Why Do So Many Women Who Study Engineering Leave the Field?,” Harvard Business Review, August 23, 2016, https://hbr.org/2016/08/why-do-so-many-women-who-study-engineering-leave-the-field.)
More alarming, according to Silbey, nearly 40% of women who earn engineering degrees either quit or never enter the profession.
What is going on? What needs to be done to keep women in the manufacturing and STEM fields once they get there?
Much is already being done to inform middle and high school students about manufacturing and STEM careers. Manufacturers host plant tours, offer summer apprenticeships, speak to students at career events, blog, do podcasts, and post interesting videos on YouTube.
But if manufacturing companies cannot keep employees, particularly women, this is both a short-term and a long-term problem.
Following in this article are things that manufacturing employers can do to hire and keep more women employees. Making needed changes in these areas will not only benefit women, but will also help the organization become more competitive, profitable, and sustainable long term.
Change Misconceptions About What It’s Like to Work in Manufacturing/STEM
A starting point to encourage more women to enter manufacturing and STEM fields is to tell them a different story about what working in the fields are like. Common misconceptions are that it is dirty, it is only for men, the manufacturing industry is “dying,” and there is no opportunity for career growth or long-term job stability.
I know these misconceptions persist because I repeatedly heard this from women working in manufacturing, whom I interviewed for my book, Women Who Make. Manufacturing and other STEM industries are hubs of innovation where advanced technologies are applied in clean, well-lit plants, and offer well-paying jobs of the future.
Action: Construct a communications strategy to better-communicate what it’s really like to work in the manufacturing industry.
Shift Workplace Culture
Many manufacturing companies are male-dominated. Though there are many companies where women are welcomed on the manufacturing floor, this is not a universally accepted idea and can create unwelcoming environments for women as a result
Workplace culture is not an easy change to make. It takes time to transform the company culture, and it must start with top leadership.
Action: Assess your company’s culture. Is it welcoming to women? Do workers feel comfortable interacting with employees of the opposite sex? If not, what must you do to shift and change the culture?
Offer Female Role Models and Mentors
Women need to see more women in manufacturing and STEM fields that are like them, whom they can relate to, and have someone who takes an interest in their career development and growth.
Action: Are there opportunities for women to be taken under someone else’s wing in the organization to help them succeed?
Are there strong female role models visible at many, if not all, levels in the organization—from the CEO/president level to middle management, to the production floor?
Are there mentorship or apprenticeship programs in place at the organization?
The answers to these questions will show if a supportive, female-friendly environment exists.
Promote More Women into Leadership Roles
The previous point leads right to women in leadership roles. By actively identifying, developing, and promoting female leaders, this shows existing women in the workforce that there is an opportunity for career growth in an organization.
A systemic problem is since women make up a small portion of the overall STEM workforce, it’s no surprise that many work environments in these fields leave a lot to be desired in terms of inclusiveness. For women to feel truly welcome in manufacturing and STEM workplaces, they need to gain more seats at the leadership table. (It also goes without saying that paying women equitable salaries and wages are a must to have in place.)
Action: Do many women have leadership positions in the organization?
Is this something that the organization has made a top priority?
If the answers to these questions are no than an organization is at risk of losing the already limited number of talented women in the organization to a more inclusive competitor, or worse, pushing them away from the field altogether.
Implement Family-Friendly Policies
The reality is that women have different lives, and demands put on them, then men. These truly need to be considered if an organization hopes to attract more women into the organization, and tap into the skills and talent that they offer.
Action: In the organization is there are family-friendly policies that support women (and their families) at the times in their lives when they might need them most, such as when having and raising children or caring for aging parents?
If not, is it time and what changes need to be made in these policies?
Close
The bottom line is that filling the talent and skills gap by attracting and retaining more women in the workplace is a competitive advantage that is being underutilized in many manufacturing organizations. Only when an environment is created that is favorable to women will the talent skills gap begin to more fully close.
Preorder the book, Women Who Make: Inspiring Stories of Women Who Found Fulfilling STEM Careers in Manufacturing Making Things with Meaning, offered on Amazon.com.