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A Michigan Legacy on the Chopping Block: AP Reports that Rosie's Plant is Days Away from Demolition

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Update : Rosie's plant is saved!  Fundraisers report that a last-minute donation kept the plant from destruction.  The campaign behind the effort will continue to raise money to make the museum goal a reality. ----------- Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that the Willow Run bomber plant in Michigan, the worksite of Rose Will Monroe - the inspiration for "Rosie the Riveter" - is slated to be torn down. A group is trying to save a portion of the factory which is located west of Detroit before its planned demolition on Thursday of this week.  The "Save the Bomber Plant" campaign has raised $7 million, but says it needs $1 million more before the deadline. AP photo of Loraine Osborne The article quotes Loraine Osborne who worked in the factory alongside Monroe building B-24 Liberators at an impressive 1-plane-per-hour pace.  "It should be taken care of so that everybody - our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren - can enjoy it as the yea...

Hear Her Story: Sue Silverstein

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At Women in Manufacturing, we are committed to supporting women in the manufacturing sector. We firmly believe that mentorship and community-buildling will help attract and retain women in manufacturing.  As part of our mission, we feature the stories of women we admire who are currently working in manufacturing here on our blog.  The following is the latest installment of our "Hear Her Story" series. Hear Her Story: Sue Silverstein Sue Silverstein stands 5 feet tall and weighs in at an a slight 95 lbs.  She studied ballet for 9 years.  She is also a welder. “You don’t have to be masculine to excel in manufacturing,” she says, laughing.  “I’m a welder and I wear makeup!” After graduating from high school at age sixteen, Sue wasn’t sure where to turn next.  Waiting tables in Milwaukee, Wisconsin felt like a dead end.  So when she got an opportunity to take a job on an assembly line at a local factory, she jumped at the chance. The job appealed to Sue. ...

The Atlantic: The Confidence Gap

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A new feature story in The Atlantic  explores troubling evidence that shows that women are less self-assured than men.  Even more, research shows that, to succeed, confidence matters as much as competence. "The Confidence Gap," written by premiere journalists Katty Kay and Claire Shipman, is lengthy and compelling and worth a read. Here are a couple paragraphs that really grabbed our attention -       "Even as our understanding of confidence expanded, however, we found that our original suspicion was dead-on: there is a particular crisis for women—a vast confidence gap that separates the sexes. Compared with men, women don’t consider themselves as ready for promotions, they predict they’ll do worse on tests, and they generally underestimate their abilities. This disparity stems from factors ranging from upbringing to biology.      A growing body of evidence shows just how devastating this lack of confidence can be. Success, it turns out, correlat...

Hear Her Story: Lesa Nichols

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At Women in Manufacturing, we are committed to supporting women in the manufacturing sector. We firmly believe that mentorship and community-buildling will help attract and retain women in manufacturing.  As part of our mission, we feature the stories of women we admire who are currently working in manufacturing here on our blog.  The following is the latest installment of our "Hear Her Story" series. Hear Her Story: Lesa Nichols, Owner, Lesa Nichols Consulting Lesa Nichols Lesa Nichols grew up the only daughter in a family of boys.  Her stepfather worked in manufacturing management and she remembers how he used his skills to tackle household projects.  “We never called for a repairman,” she says fondly.  “He would just say, ‘let’s get this out to the garage and fix it.’”  As a young girl, she admired her stepfather’s ability to take something apart, analyze the pieces, and put back together an even better product.  She didn’t know it then, but she wou...

Third Annual Women in Automotive Luncheon and Panel Just 15 Days Away

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In just 15 days, we'll be gathering in Novi, MI the third annual Women in Automotive Luncheon and Panel . This event is a must-attend program for all professional women in the automotive sector.  It includes a networking lunch, and conversational panel with key women leaders in the automotive industry. The panel will include: Sonia Rief, Director, Exterior, Thermal and Accessory Engineering at Nissan North America Marcy Klevorn, Director, Office of the CIO at Ford Motor Company Anita Burke, Vehicle Chief Engineer (2015 GMC Canyon), General Motors Company Carol Jean “CJ” Milner, Supplier Account Manager, Renault Nissan Purchasing Organization The panel will be moderated by Laurie Harbour, President and CEO of Harbour Results Inc . Visit our website for more information about the event and to register.

Real Life Rosies at the White House

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One of our favorite stories is the legacy of Rosie the Riveter - the story of some 20 million women who went to work in factories across the United States when men were deployed during WWII.  Under the banner of "We Can Do It!" these women filled much-needed positions as welders, electritions and, of course, riveters.  This week, some of these real life Rosies were honored at the White House. Watch the news report from ABC for the whole, touching story.

7-Year-Old Challenges LEGO and We Love It

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Did you see this letter from 7-year-old Charlotte to LEGO?  We saw it on the Huffington Post site today. She reports that she recently went to a store and...well, she wasn't pleased.  Check it out - Here's what she wrote - Dear Lego company, My name is Charlotte. I am 7 years old and I love legos but I don't like that there are more lego boy people and barely any lego girls. today I went to a store and saw legos in two sections the girls pink and the boys blue. All the girls did was sit at home, go to the beach, and shop, and they had no jobs but the boys went on adventures, worked, saved people, and had jobs, even swam with sharks. I want you to make more lego girl people and let them go on adventures and have fun ok!?! Thank you. from Charlotte Amen, Charlotte!

New WiM Chapter Opening Tomorrow at Purdue University College of Technology at Anderson: Kickoff Event Tomorrow

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WiM is launching a new campus chapter this week at Purdue University College of Technology at Anderson.  See our press release below about the kickoff event scheduled for tomorrow afternoon ! Women in Manufacturing™ Launches Campus Chapter at Purdue University College of Technology at Anderson CLEVELAND, OH —Women in Manufacturing™ (WiM) is pleased to announce the launch of a campus chapter at Purdue University College of Technology at Anderson (IN). This new chapter will host a kickoff luncheon on Tuesday, March 27, from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. at Purdue University College of Technology Anderson, Commons Area – First Floor, 2705 Enterprise Drive, Anderson, IN.  This event will celebrate the first joint chapter meeting between Women in Manufacturing™ and Purdue Anderson College of Technology with lunch, guest speakers and networking opportunities. WiM – Purdue Anderson is directed by Lorri Barnett, a continuing lecturer of technology leadership and innovation at the university. ...

WiM Director Quoted in Financial Post Article About Image of Manufacturing

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A long article was published today by the Financial Post: " Conventional image of ‘dirty’ manufacturing scaring away critical talent pool of smart, skilled women ." The piece by Dan Ovsey is definitely worth a read. Our own WiM director Allison Grealis sets the tone in the opening paragraphs.  "I think the biggest challenge we face is that many women don’t feel that manufacturing is a fit for them, because I don’t think they understand what manufacturing is," she is quoted as saying. "They still, unfortunately, perceive manufacturing as dark and dingy, dirty, dead-end careers, and not a pleasant place to be." Much of the article's data content won't be a surprise to our readers because we've shared many of the same troubling statistics about women in STEM here.  But the real meat of the piece can be found in the compelling case studies of real women who have made careers in manufacturing. Read the full article for testimony from Zoe Slumkoski...

Aspen Institute Calls Women Untapped Resource for U.S. Manufacturing Sector

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Update: You can watch the livestream of the event mentioned below -  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/18/filling-the-skills-gap-in_n_4985617.html ----------------------- "One untapped resource to address the problem remains in plain view: women are increasingly outperforming men in acquiring advanced skills, but are under-represented in both the manufacturing workforce and in the specialized S.T.E.M. fields most in demand in today's industrial economy." This from a new article published in the Huffington Post this week by Thomas Duesterberg, executive director of the manufacturing and society program at the Aspen Institute, an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. The article includes lots of data we've written about on our blog before: Women outpacing men in attaining degrees, women underperforming in the manufacturing sector and in STEM fields, etc. But it also includes some stats that are new to us - Duesterberg writes about re...

First WiM Community Chapter Launched in Milwaukee

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We are thrilled to report that we've launched our first community chapter in Milwaukee, Wisconsin! Special thanks to Maddie Hayes and Amanda Lalley of Waukesha® Metal Products, and Madeleine Bucheger of AFC America Ltd. for their leadership roles in establishing the chapter! The group will hold its kickoff event on March 26 in downtown Milwaukee. Get event details and register  to attend this networking reception. WiM community chapters are designed to bring together women in their local areas, allowing them to develop new contacts, participate in networking events and become an advocate for women in the manufacturing industry—all while simultaneously learning about business development and job opportunities in their communities. Are you interested in starting a community in your area?   Community chapters should typically meet bimonthly and meetings range in subject matter based on the interests of members. Each community is pioneered and run by a WiM member. Please contact...

Latest WiM Newsletter is Available Now!

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Good news - The  Winter 2014 edition  of Women in Manufacturing's IMPACT e-newsletter is now available! Check it out for a preliminary overview of the 2014 SUMMIT, a WiM member's effort to educate a local Girl Scouts troop about manufacturing, features on many exciting upcoming WiM-related events and more.  Get it all here . Do you have news for our newsletter?  We'd love to share information in future editions of IMPACT about your local efforts to educate young women about careers in manufacturing, your professional achievements, or any other news that would be of interest to women in the industry. If you have news to share, please e-mail it to  Christie Carmigiano  for possible publication in an upcoming issue.

Ban Bossy

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We've all heard it - the other b-word -   bossy . Maybe a little girl raises her hand frequently in class, or perhaps she organizes the play of her friends, or even suggests her own name for a coveted opportunity.  When she does these things, she's running the risk of being called that dreaded b-word - bossy . When we allow little girls to be assigned negative words like bossy , we're essentially telling them not to be leaders.  We're saying that we should not stand up or take charge. And these words really matter.  Did you know that, by middle school, girls are less interested in leading their peers than boys are?  This is a devastating trend that continues into adulthood and keeps women out of leadership roles. In our previous blog post (see below), we wrote about a efforts by LeanIn and the Girl Scouts to ban that b-word.  Joined by other partners, the campaign is really booming (no surprise!) and we are thrilled. Check out the website and learn how you ...