Girls have lengthy been underrepresented in engineering positions. And within the male-dominated automobile enterprise, the chances appear particularly stacked in opposition to them.
However that did not cease Laurie Transou, chief engineer for the Ford Mustang Darkish Horse, the corporate’s newest muscle automobile.
“Throughout the auto trade, there’s every kind of alternatives for younger girls curious about engineering,” Transou not too long ago instructed Yahoo Finance from the 2023 New York Auto Present.
Girls make up roughly half america workforce, however occupy round merely 30 p.c of STEM (science, expertise, engineering, and arithmetic) jobs. In the meantime, they make up only one quarter of the auto trade, in accordance with Deloitte.
“STEM is a superb place to begin. So I might completely encourage people who find themselves curious about engineering to study extra about it, get entangled with STEM,” Transou mentioned. “There’s tons of mentor packages.”
For instance, Girls in STEM, a corporation working internationally to advertise girls in stem, has a program that pairs younger girls with mentors in trade.
Although males have traditionally dominated the auto trade, girls have grow to be extra seen in management roles. As an illustration, Mary Barra, who leads Basic Motors, grew to become the primary feminine CEO of a significant automobile firm when she took over in 2014. Additionally, Donna Dickson has served because the chief engineer of the Mustang Mach-E, Ford’s electrical SUV since 2021.
Transou affirmed that there is extra to engineering jobs within the auto trade than “the nuts and bolts.”
“It is enjoyable. We do technique. … We take into consideration what merchandise may very well be. We take into consideration our clients and the way we enchantment to them. So it is actually a enjoyable job. I need to be sure that younger girls perceive that, too.”
Dylan Croll is a reporter and researcher at Yahoo Finance. Comply with him on Twitter at @CrollonPatrol.
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