Are There Any Female Only Mechanics Who Can Help Me Please Concerning College Discrimination And Tormenting?
Hello.This question is directed specifically to female mechanics both as trainee & qualified alike.My friends 16 year old girlfriend is a trainee mechanic at a college and is in her first full year.Her tutors keep telling her she ‘can’t lift this’ or ‘can’t lift that’ because ’she is a girl and not strong enough because she isn’t a bloke.’If it isn’t enough that the tutors treat her this way,she also has to contend with being tormented by other lads about wanting to be a mechanic.It has now reached the point where she wants to quit her college career.My questions to other female mechanics are thus.1.Did you have any discrimination by the college tutors in any area of your training?If so,how did you deal with it and what were the results?2.How did you deal with the tormenting by the lads on the same course?I’ll pass your answers on.She really DOES want to be a mechanic.I believe all this has now got her down so much so that she doesn’t want to be there any more.Thank you,Alan L
January 20th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
I cant help you with this other than she should contact people higher up in the college regarding this. Please tell your friend not to leave because of some immature little d**kheads and some ignorant tutors. We need more female mechanics and she is probaly really good at what she does, and she really wants to do it not like all the little d**ks that are at college because theres nothing better to do.
Good luck
To the first two people who answered the reason why he has asked FEMALE ONLY mechanics is because they will probaly know exactly how this girl feels and how do deal with it drawing from their own personal experiences. Its not as if you even offered a solution that you are so keen to say a man has!
January 21st, 2010 at 12:46 am
hi i am at college just now not training to be a mechanic but in a mainly male environment and it is hard but if it is what she wants she has to just stick at it. They should not be telling her she can not do the same stuff as the boys because she can so she should get something done about that 1st of all and tell her when she finishes her training she will prove them all wrong
January 21st, 2010 at 12:47 am
Aren’t you discriminating by asking only women? What a man can’t understand your problem and maybe help you out?
January 21st, 2010 at 4:36 am
Firstly, are you 100% sure she could definately lift the said item?
If i’m standing under a car and need someone to hold a gearbox in place, I want to know for sure that he or she wont drop it on my foot.
Sorry to say but ribbing is just part of most jobs including mechanics. Same with most college courses and schools. I bet there are male members of the class getting ribbed too.
This is not meant as a sexist remark so please dont take it this way, some woman want equality on their own terms.
January 21st, 2010 at 5:57 am
While I understand your reason for wanting answers from women only this isn’t a woman-only problem, you imagine the stick a guy would get on a home-economics course!!! So we can end up in the same situation.
The answer is simple, she needs to confront them if she can, not challenge them as it’s logical to assume she isn’t as strong as the guys on the course, but the next time someone tells her she can’t lift something or do something, she wants to politely comment, “well lets find out then” or something to those lines, as they will look a little smaller if she suddenly manages the task without help or interference.
In all single-sex dominated trades this is an issue that will always exist, and shock-tactics that aren’t offensive are the best way to get around them.
She also has one big ally to support her, her sex. The type of guys on a mechanics course will either be intelligent professionals looking for success or below-par guys that will probably feel intimidated by a woman doing what they should be traditionally doing. If she can truly remember that, without doubt she’ll immediately have the weapons she needs to deal with them.
One last point that is harsh but true, is that it will not get much better in the workplace, so she may also want to take a course in assertiveness as well or she’s going to come across the exact same fear in the workplace.
January 21st, 2010 at 6:34 am
she needs to speak to teh head of the course, if no joy there then go higher untill she sees results. the guys are a bunch of knobs so ignore them or come back at them with witty comments and they will soon accept her. the lecturers probably think they are trying to help her. get her to speak to the lecturersandand ask them to let her do it, as how else is she gonna do it when she becomes qualified.
tell her to keep at it if thats what she wants to do. she will always have to put up with idiots who wont think she will be as good but personally i prefer to deal with a lady mechanic, much more honest and they do tend to know there stuff
January 21st, 2010 at 12:54 pm
I’m not a female, but I am an engineer and I went through training with one or two females. The fact that the instructors are saying things like that is completely wrong. The other trainee’s could possibly be put down to harmless banter (depending on how much they say it), but the instructors saying it really is sexual discrimination.
The method we were taught was to clearly say to them “I am offended by your comment. If you carry on saying things like this, I will report you for sexual discrimination”
(I’m in the military, so we all have to put up with harmless banter, but the females in male dominant jobs have to put up with more)
January 21st, 2010 at 2:05 pm
simple solution. she should contact the main person at the institute and show that person how she can pick up and handle the head off a 454 chevy or a v-8 gm diesel. that would make her qualified in my book. i’ve worked with too many women in the industry that couldn’t handle the job due to a strength issue.
January 21st, 2010 at 5:24 pm
You are the bigot assuming men can’t help you in this situation. I was going to help you with some good advice. But if you think I am not good enough because I was born a man, then take a torque wrench and place it where the sun does not shine.
January 21st, 2010 at 5:33 pm
You have to tell her to carry on,if she cant handle the stick she’s getting now, she will have a problem when she does get qualified,and has some patronising idiot taking the p**s,if she learns to deal with it now she can have all the smart comebacks she needs in the future. There are certain jobs that women cant do because of the strength factor,but if she feels that she is capable of lifting heavy things then have a quiet word with the tutor.Good luck.
January 21st, 2010 at 6:42 pm
Not a mechanic but do know about discrimination. Start by checking that she can lift the stuff that othersin the class lift. If she can then she can politely point this out and then get on with the job. Her tutors should know better than to behave in this way ; if it were where i used to wotk they would be disciplined for it. Fisrtly she should then ask her tutors not to make comments like this and say that she expects them to behave ; she should also point out that she expects them to keep order in teir classrooms (outside s mor difficult)If it is really bad and does not stop she should keep a diary of all comments – and when she has referred to tutor and what did/did not happen as a reult of the request. If it continues she should put it in writing to the College head (and keep a copy herself) asking how he/she intends to address the issue. It sounds too much like a pack mentality is going on instead of a professional college atmosphere.
January 22nd, 2010 at 12:45 am
Hey i think men should have the right to coment to as it is not fair saying only us.
January 22nd, 2010 at 3:43 am
Hi Alan, as a former College lecturer in automotive engineering at 3 FE colleges and also presently as a trainer/ assessor for Mercedes Benz i feel i cannot let this one go without answering it and giving some i hope helpful pointers.
The college needs to be informed of this quickly and to the top no messing with Dept heads go straight ti the principle with this, most if not all colleges are very keen to emphasis that they have an equel opps policy and in this case it clearly isnt been adhered to and the staff concerend need reprimanding asap, if the college dont seem to be taking any action then get in touch with the LSC who provide the funding for training organisations and colleges and complain directly to them.
I have worked as i said earlier in 3 FE colleges in the uk Hull, Newcastle and Beverley and i have successfully trained a number of female technicians and i still do to this day some of them are working in Mercedes Truck dealerships and are successful alongside their male collegues, my 2nd cousin also trained at hull college ( i didnt train her) and she went on to work for Ferrai so please let her see this and dont let her be put off its isnt a very labour intesnive industry these days its i more technical and in any workshope you work as part of a team ! so individual strength is not an issue.
Incedently reasearch shows that in this country now the most discriminated section of the community is actually a white english male ( i used to present equal ops training sessions with my last company )