Women Building California Conference 2010
Organized Labor
Jennifer Westerbeck, High School Teacher, Engineering Academy Coordinator, Salinas Union High School District
I think we need more women in the trades to inspire more women in the trades. I'm all woman, I look like a woman, I talk like a woman. My goal is to get young women who look and feel like I do to understand that they can have a strong role in what appears to be a male field. I get them to understand that not only can they do the job, but they can get to a place where they tell the men what to do. Then they see it differently. They see the opportunity for income and feeling good about themselves.
I started the first program with half girls and half boys, and the graduating class was half girls and half boys. The administrator didn't think I could hold on to them, but I did. How? By connecting with them, learning their personal stories, sharing my personal stories, and letting them know they can do it.