[TXdragonfly]

Hi everyone! I was wondering if it was common or uncommon to see women as machinists?

Thanks!

[diarmaid]

Maybe make this a poll?

[VTEC]

ive seen a few operators but no "machinist"

[Joerg Berger]

Hi, everyone I,m new to this site. I have been in the machinning busines for more than 30 years and for the past 15 years I have been supervisor of a conventional and CNC machine shop. I have had three women work for me as CNC machine operators and all three have worked out fairly well. I don't see anything wrong with women persueing a career as a machinist.

Joerg Berger
Ontario Canada

[jjasshipley]

I have met one female machinist, and several female operators. I have found them to be just as qualified as any male candidates for the job. The only thing that we men have over them in this field is the fact that as a whole, men are physically stronger than women. However, it is a fact that intelligence levels of women are just as capable of grasping mechanical subjects just as well as men. I think there are two reasons we don't see more female machinists.
1. Women are more likely to choose a traditional (sexist term I know) female career, such as nurse, secretary, teacher, waitress, etc.
2. Men in general feel threatened by women in the workplace. I would hate to count the times that men have forced women out of companies just because they feel threatened by their presence.

[charper]

I'm a woman!!! And love the look on your face when you find out I have I have skills ..hee hee

[joecnc2006]

I do not think any trade is limited to gender. It is only limited to ones vision and imagination.

BTW: Welcome to the forum all of you new members, No gender specific....

Joe

[Geof]

My interest was piqued, not by the concept of female machinists, but by "Craft is What I do All Day. Art is what I have at the end of it" Jean Weller". So I Googled, of course! And got caught in a recursive loop which swung me right back to 'charper' on cnczone.com. Can I request asistance in breaking out of the loop, please.

[charper]

Nope. ur stuck with me. And trust me I am far from a feminist. I am more for the shock value. If you question it..check out my myspace..not for the conservative. I probably shouldn't drink and post...bye!

[dertsap]

And trust me I am far from a feminist. !

a simple phrase i can respect (i WAS married to a feminist)
there is no real reason that a woman can t do most trades , other than the will to step up to the plate , the machinist trade takes a good head with good consentration skills ,and that is a trate that would be fairly equal between men and women ,
in my experience bimbo's and airheads are apparently about the same between both genders as well

[charper]

well said
there are plenty of women and men who are a clueless
take my husband. he is an excellent retina surgeon, but tools, hah. he leaves that up to me

[miljnor]

I don't know why everyone always lumps people into catagories. Personal I lump everyone into Me and everyone else. Or if you can do it I can do it (although I might not want to )

My words to live by: "if its to be, its up to me!"

or my dads old school version "if you want something done right do it yourself"

[Girl]

Hi everyone! I was wondering if it was common or uncommon to see women as machinists?

Thanks!

As a girl I can tell you it is very uncommon. 99% of machinist are men.(You do see a few more up north though.). I set-up and run a Cincinatti Milacron Lathe. How bout you?

[ViperTX]

Yeah...and 100 percent of mothers are women.....

Anyway....some time back I posted on a trend that is occuring in India...where the Government is training women to be operators and machinists at no charge....seems that the men who are operators/machinists are taking jobs outside of India.....leaving India with a growing demand for operators/machinists and nobody to fill the jobs....

[Al_The_Man]

....leaving India with a growing demand for operators/machinists and nobody to fill the jobs....

Traditionally in time of war, the majority of machinst are women, They are up to the Job, but as a group, do they really want to persue a career as such?.
Al.

[ViperTX]

Well given that poverty is rampant in India and their caste system....I would expect most any able bodied person would jump at an opportunity to change their family's fortunes...and apparently thousands of women have jumped at this opportunity in India....

[Al_The_Man]

Well given that poverty is rampant in India and their caste system....I would expect most any able bodied person would jump at an opportunity to change their family's fortunes...and apparently thousands of women have jumped at this opportunity in India....

I had wondered for a while why India with a huge pool of cheap labour was not ahead or keeping up with China in its production of exports to the west, after all it has a huge advantage as being the largest English speaking nation outside of the USA.
I had the opportunity to speak with an economist that is familiar with India, and he claims that among many reasons, the caste system is one that is keeping this from happening.
( One up side would be manuals that make sense)
Al.

[MnotLyon]

Nope. ur stuck with me. And trust me I am far from a feminist. I am more for the shock value. If you question it..check out my myspace..not for the conservative. I probably shouldn't drink and post...bye!

I'm anti-feminist.

Men and women are NOT the same. If you don't believe me, ask your doctor.

After saying that, I'll say that women (generally speaking) would make better tool makers than men if they choose to. Women typically pay better attention to detail than men do. Sure, they're not as strong, but how strong do you really need to be if there's a fork lift or a crane nearby?

Men would have a slight edge on spacial awareness that may help them in understanding prints, and complicated 3d issues, but that is a trait that can be learned.

While women would make great tool makers, I have to ask myself if that's what I'd want my daughter to do. The answer is probably not. It's a better environment than many trades, but not what I'd want for my wife, or my daughter.

[Geof]

...., I have to ask myself if that's what I'd want my daughter to do. The answer is probably not. It's a better environment than many trades, but not what I'd want for my wife, or my daughter.

Surely what your daughter wants to do is up to your daughter?

[MnotLyon]

Surely what your daughter wants to do is up to your daughter?

Of course it is. But, it's my job to help her make important decisions. If I didn't warn her of the problems she may be facing, I wouldn't be doing my job. If, after we considered the potential pros and cons, she still wanted to be a tool maker, I'd just be glad she didn't want to be a stripper.