Tips for leaders challenging a sexist vocational culture.

Symbols of a sexist culture plaster the walls of many male-dominated workspaces. Stereotypical images such as women in bikinis in beer ads and calendars warn women away from industries like auto body repair or truck driving.

Those who choose to enter the male dominated, labor intensive, physical world of vocational industry may face challenges in a culture that marginalizes women and minimizes their value.

How can a woman leader survive and even thrive in such a culture? Kim Marie Yates, dean of technical and vocational programs at Mayland Community College in North Carolina, presumed to not only enter the culture, but also to assume a leadership role in horticulture.

She reflected on what attitudes and actions brought her success. Her suggestions for women choosing vocational leadership positions were the basis of her presentation at the Women in Educational Leadership conference at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln in September 2004.

An educated novice?

In higher education, community colleges offer many vocational programs in trades such as welding, plumbing or masonry, which are traditionally dominated by men.

With a BS degree from North Carolina State University in landscape horticulture, Yates began her career as a horticulturist at a golf and country club at age 22. Straight out of college and inexperienced, she suddenly found herself in charge of a crew of older, sexist men. "I did have some issues--in a rural county--that I probably could not do the job," she said.