This article is part of Concentrate's Voices of Youth series, which features stories written by Washtenaw County youth with guidance from Concentrate staff mentors, as well as adult-written stories spotlighting local youth perspective. In this installment, student writer Lillian Gentry interviews local female students and adults about their experiences in skilled trades.

Kaysi Hohner is one of the only girls in the welding program at Saline High School. It is her first experience in welding but she has enjoyed it so much she decided she wants to minor in welding. 

Welding and construction are portrayed as being a lot of hard labor. Perhaps that is discouraging women and girls from entering the field, worried they aren't strong enough or they won’t be given jobs because someone else believes they are not strong enough. 

However, Natallia Bent, a student at Augusta Township's Lincoln High School who helps build sets for theater, argues against that. She says, “Even if they aren’t as strong as someone else might be, they can still have a lot to offer in other areas, like problem solving.”

She adds, “It’s important [to have more diversity in construction fields] because both genders bring a different perspective, a unique perspective." 

Shanice Stewart, a Toledo, Ohio-based union electrician with a welding license, makes the case that trade work isn’t always as physically demanding as people make it out to be.

“People talk about [working as an electrician] being a really hard job, but it’s really not that hard," she says. 

She states that going through trade school at 18 was tougher on her. 

“A lot of times I was the only Black woman in the class," she says.

Stewart says she would often come home and feel like quitting because she hated the way she felt singled out some days. It is understandable that people facing discrimination would leave that field because they don’t want to deal with it, she says.

High school students still feel prejudice in skilled trades, even at their younger age. 

“Luckily for me, it’s mainly been banter with friends, and I’m someone who can kind of deal with that," Hohner says. "But there are some girls who aren’t comfortable with it.” 

She says young women studying skilled trades never know if someone will make a comment specifically against the few girls in the class or just disrespectful comments about women in general.

Bent says her construction classes have about an equal ratio of boys and girls. However, she can see a difference between theater and construction. 

“In theater, we tend to be a little bit more accepting," she says.

Hohner says she's concerned about discrimination in these fields, and in all aspects of life. 

“I’m someone who really wants to find a way to stop it, because it doesn’t benefit anyone," Hohner says.

Hohner and Bent say they believe that more people would enjoy skilled trades if they just gave those fields a chance. Both girls express how much they love their respective programs, often reiterating how fun they are.

The students and Stewart have plenty of ideas on how to get more women and minorities into these fields, summed up by Stewart's thought that “the information just isn’t really put out there" on how to pursue skilled trades.

All of the women’s solutions address this exact problem. Hohner wishes that her school’s welding program got more publicity in the school newspaper and on social media. 

Doug CoombeKaysi Hohner in welding class at Saline High School.
She also thinks it would be a great idea to have more hands-on learning experiences such as woodshop, something that led her to get into welding. She mentions that you have to be a hands-on learner for welding and that “you have to have the motivation and determination to be good at it.”  

Selia Gonzales, a pipefitter and a welder for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 8 in Toledo, Ohio, certainly possesses that determination. She is a foreman for her job, so not only does she work on a construction site, but she is in charge of the people on it. Asked if she thinks she faces more prejudice being a foreman, she responds, “Oh, absolutely! There are a lot of men that hate taking instructions from a woman.” 

It seems to be a general consensus that more diversity would benefit everyone on a construction site. Each woman interviewed for this story says each person with their own different experiences brings something different and unique to the table. If you only have similar people with similar experiences, you can’t accomplish anything special.

Lilly Gentry is a rising senior and loves reading, crafting, and the outdoors. She would like to be a children's librarian one day, but until then she keeps busy with Scouts, Sea Scouts, martial arts, and traveling with her family. 

Concentrate staffer Sarah Rigg served as Lilly's mentor on this story.

Photos by Doug Coombe.