www.thefabricator.com: Ten years ago, DeIla Ray took a fire watch job in North Dakota. It was pretty much what you would expect—she kept an eye out for any potential fires on the job site. Not the most exciting job, but at least the pay was good, she said.
It was here that she saw welding for the first time and struck her first arc.
The rest, as they say, is history—or as she described it, “Sparks flew.”
2 comments:
The field of welding has traditionally been male-dominated, but in recent years, more and more women have been breaking into the industry. Women in welding face unique challenges, including navigating a male-dominated workplace and dealing with outdated gender stereotypes. Like many hands-on professions, welders can appreciate the challenge of working with a material that requires precision and attention to detail. But as stated in the article, welding has become a profession that more women are interested in which requires the industry to change, even down to the clothing and PPE. As the industry continues to evolve, role models for young girls like DeIla are an integral part of the growth. This breaks down gender barriers and creates a more inclusive workplace to help build equal opportunities to succeed in this incredibly important field. It is also cute that she and her spouse have a small welding business together. They’re able to look out for each other which is always important to have.
You love to see it. I always see a lot of narratives about better gender equality in high powered jobs in different industries but, at least I, rarely hear those same stories from the working class jobs which seem to unfortunately be a lot slower at moving into the modern age. I think DeIla is incredible and so inspirational to me and so many other women who like to work with our hands and want to work in the trades. I know that there is a current lack of people in the trades as of right now and I think that encouraging more girls and women to learn them and start apprenticing and getting work in them might seriously help that problem. Especially in rural areas to women who don’t have any other prospects that could easily be considered, I think that employing her to teach workshops there would be greatly helpful and beneficial to the community.
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