LEBANON – Before the panel discussion began, organizers of LBCC’s “Women in Auto” event had to find more chairs to add another row to accommodate all the attendees still funneling into the event area.
Brought together by the density of the audience, attendees happily started chatting with their newly arranged neighbors. Many attendees were already acquainted with one another, but most people excitedly introduced themselves to strangers in similar industries, asking questions about each other, and forming impressively significant connections, considering the short time left before the event started.
Around 50 students, instructors, industry professionals, and community members gathered on Feb. 10 at Linn-Benton’s Advanced Transportation Technology Center in Lebanon for the Women in Auto event. They listened to a panel of female students speak on their experiences as women in a male-dominated industry, took a tour around the facility, and heard from industry professionals. Organizers believe making the automotive industry accessible for women and empowering them to feel like they can navigate associated educational or work environments is important to the center’s faculty.
Demonstrating the program’s effect on the community, mechanic Chris Austin spoke on the two students he’s hired from Linn-Benton’s programs over the years.
“They were both eager to get into the field they went to school for,” said Austin. An eagerness likely promoted by the involvement of LBCC’s Cooperative Work Experience, which gives students on-the-job experience before graduation.
At the event, CWE Director Amy Burbee spoke to attendees at her booth, promoting the college’s focus on enlisting first-generation college students and their impressive proportion of female students, 36%, pursuing careers in male-dominated industries.
Burbee handed out fliers advertising the upcoming CTE sign-on day, where incoming students sign up for guaranteed spots in any of 15 different industry-specific career and technical education programs.
In the audience, attendee Amanda McBride came to learn more about the program. Dedicated to making STEM classes and careers accessible to students of any gender, the middle school teacher makes a habit of looking for good programs and educational resources her students can make use of throughout their educational and career paths.
Enabling students to be prepared for work opportunities, LBCC’s ATTC provides each student with a basic set of work tools through their partnership with Snap-on Inc. Austin mentioned this was helpful when the two LBCC students he has employed started working with him.
At a Glance
Linn-Benton’s Advanced Transportation Technology Center in Lebanon hosted a “Women in Auto” event on Feb. 10. Seeking to promote inclusivity in automotive and other technical fields, the center directed guests through an informative itinerary. Beginning with a panel of female students, audience members listened to their experiences as women in male-dominated educational and work environments. The event continued with a tour of the facility and a panel of industry professionals to end the night.
Learn more about cooperative work experience
Learn more about LBCC's Automotive Technology Program
Check out the Advanced Transportation Technology Center in Lebanon
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