New survey presents keys to recruiting women to manufacturing sector

Schaumburg, Ill.-based Women in Manufacturing™ (WiM), a group of nearly 500 women dedicated to attracting, retaining, and advancing women in the manufacturing sector, has released a survey, co-produced with Plante Moran, that highlights the potential for young women as manufacturing employees.

The survey of more than 870 women — including both experienced women currently working in manufacturing and young women who are just beginning to consider their career options — offers several promising findings for the future of women in the manufacturing sector. Most importantly, the survey found that there is significant overlap between the top factors young women are seeking in careers and the factors manufacturing careers offer.

In the survey, young women ranked compensation as the most important factor they are seeking in a career, followed closely by work that is interesting and challenging. At the same time, more than 80 percent of women in manufacturing today say that their work is interesting and challenging, and half of women in manufacturing say that compensation is the most significant benefit of the sector.

The survey also found that 74 percent of women working in manufacturing believe that the sector offers multiple career paths for women and that more than half of women in manufacturing today think that the sector is a leading industry for job growth for women. In addition, 64 percent of women working in manufacturing reported that they would recommend a career in manufacturing to a young woman.

But despite these high numbers, young women remain woefully unaware of the opportunities available to them in the manufacturing sector. Less than half of young women believe that manufacturing offers the interesting and challenging work they’re seeking, and less than 10 percent of young women placed manufacturing among the top five career fields that they feel offer the most opportunity for young women today.

“On the whole, these survey results should be seen as a call to action in a space where there is great opportunity,” said WiM Director Allison Grealis. “When we know what young women are looking for in careers, we are in a better position to demonstrate how manufacturing can help them meet their aspirations. We have long known that women are good for manufacturing, and these survey results go a long way to showing that manufacturing is good for women too.”