On Tuesday, Nov. 14th the AAUW Greensboro Branch hosted a panel discussion on Women in Nontraditional Careers. The US Department of Labor defines a non-traditional career as one in which 25% or less of those employed across the field are women.
The panel discussion was moderated by Tiffany Jacobs, AAUW NC DEI Chair. The panel of women consisted of:
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Katy Carnes (Toyota Battery Manufacturing NC) TBMNC (toyota.com)
- Elisabeth Hornfeck – Toyota FAME (Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education) Apprentice First In Flight FAME (gtcc.edu)
- Kris Britton, CEO of Lucky Dog Volleyball – Kris Britton, CEO – Lucky Dog Volleyball
- Erica Vilsaint, Executive Director of BioNetwork – Erica Monique Vilsaint – Executive Director of BioNetwork & Life Sciences – North Carolina Community Colleges System | LinkedIn
- LaToya Faustin, Executive Director of She Built This City – She Built This City
Today, women make up just a third of the manufacturing workforce and only 8% of the construction workforce overall, a percentage that has remained stubbornly constant.
Each woman spoke about:
- Their personal background/journey towards their current position and how being a female impacted them in their leadership role.
- Things women may struggle with such as inclusion and belonging, imposter syndrome, etc. and how to overcome and support women in dealing with those issues.
- The benefits of mentorship in education and training programs and the need for more diversity in high demand industry sectors and career roles where women are vastly underrepresented.
- How early exposure to STEM-related careers, career exploration and/or apprenticeship can be a pathway to a career for students who otherwise might not know exactly what they want to do after HS.
- Words of encouragement to inspire women and girls to pursue nontraditional career pathways and opportunities.