The women highlighted in this project: (top) Mary Hall Reno, Gayle Roberts and Tina McDermott; (bottom) BeaDay Plumbers, Lynette Marshall and women police officers (Kelli Smith, pictured)
This project — a culmination of my last 8 months of graduate school — was an effort to profile and discuss women in male-dominated careers — from blue collar labor jobs like plumbers and firefighters, to CEOs and presidents of foundations and firms.
Since the blog’s posting in 2009, I’ve maintained steady posts about women and work outside of Iowa. Please check back every so often to see new updates, articles and musings on women and the world in which we work.
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Women have come a long way. Women can vote, women can work and have families, and they can break barriers.
But it’s not perfect. Not yet.
In Iowa, women made a median salary of $29,824, according to a 2008 study by the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women, while men made over $10,000 more.
Nontraditional and often male-dominated careers present obstacles and discrimination for women who dare to enter them. In 2004, 3.8 million of 68 million working women in the United States were employed in nontraditional careers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Women in these fields are not trying to make a statement or even be recognized. Often these women truly love what they do – they just happen to be the few women attempting to do it.
For Tina McDermott and Janet Vest, two firefighters with the Iowa City Fire Department, the only goal in mind was to be firefighters. After the turmoil following the resignation of one female firefighter more than 20 years ago, both women have faced discrimination from the force and community, but that hasn’t stopped them.
Physicist Mary Hall Reno has been with the University of Iowa since 1990, with her husband and children at her side. She is about to take on a new role as the first female chair of the UI Department of Physics and Astronomy, all while trying to advocate for women in those fields.
The women of BeaDay Plumbing in Iowa City are certainly not trying to make a statement, and they don’t have to. For almost 30 years, they’ve been one of the area’s top names in kitchen and bathroom remodeling and construction. But the climb was not easy and they still remain a tight-knit minority in a very male industry.
Gayle Roberts is the first female president of Stanley Consultants and the only female president of an international engineering firm. In light of the imbalances between men and women in engineering, she is taking the initiative to help attract women to the industry to help solve the world’s problems.
The University of Iowa Foundation has a 53-year history of high-level donors and fund-raising progress. Lynette Marshall, its first woman at the helm, tackles the job keeping up with individual schools and departments while also raising awareness about philanthropy and its prospects in today’s tough economy.
Last is a photo essay of female police officers from Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Coralville and The University of Iowa working their beats in the jailhouse, clocking speeding cars, and visiting classrooms to share safety tips with children.
