How ASE is trying to draw in more women technicians

Timothy

Amid a technician shortage, one obvious way to alleviate some of the strain would be attract women to the industry.

Women make up more than half the population but account for just 2 per cent of techs in the industry. Finding a way to draw them in is on the list of development activities for the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Education Foundation.

“We want to attract more women to the workforce,” said foundation president Mike Coley. “We’re headed a little bit in the right direction.”

He highlighted the fact that a series of entry-level test delivered in high schools and colleges — the first step on the ASE professional credential path — showed that about 6 per cent of the test takers are female.

“It’s not anywhere close to 50 per cent,” Coley acknowledged in an interview. “But it’s moving in the right direction.”

The industry is becoming more aware that there are opportunities for women in the automotive aftermarket, especially as technicians and shop owners, but Coley called it a chicken-and-egg problem.

“If you don’t see people like you in a workplace, then you don’t naturally think, ‘Hey, I could do that for a living,’” Coley said.

And it’s not just the need for more females becoming automotive students but more women instructing them, he added.

“And we need more females in the workplace as not just service technicians, but as parts managers, as service consultants, as business owners and have those people coming back to the schools and explaining that there’s opportunities for everybody in this business,” Coley said.

ASE has been working to highlight women in the industry through its website. They work with the Auto Care Association’s Women in Auto Care community; there’s also the Women Industry Network for the collision repair side of the business.

“If we can show that there is a face to women in this industry, I think that’s important,” said Trish Serratore, senior vice president of communications for ASE. “So I think all of us joining hands together is the answer to getting a greater reach to the female audience.”

 

Editor’s note: The image originally used in this story has been replaced.

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