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Three dynamic women who have staked out successful careers in the steel industry will inspire your female students to explore new career pathways.Female role models help get this career on the radar of women and girls because they’re able to see someone who looks like them on the job. The video reveals the personal experiences and insights of successful women working in this field. Steel and related industries employ millions of people. Increasing numbers of women are establishing rewarding careers in the traditionally male-dominated steel field. |
Career Options for Women -- Steel:
This 24-minute video features profiles of three women with successful careers in steel:
- Stephanie Sebastian, a production worker at a fast-paced galvanizing mill
- Jennifer Zahra, a quality control inspector involved with steel tubing for automotive uses
- Christine Guérin, a research technician focusing on the chemical components of super-strong steel
Additional information from co-workers and supervisors supplements each job profile.
Meet the role models featured in the Steel video:
Stephanie: Production Worker
For production worker Stephanie Sebastian, working in a steel mill is a family affair. She's a third generation of steel workers. Stephanie went to college after high school, but was lured into the steel business by the great money, benefits and positive work environment.
Stephanie works in a galvanizing mill. Galvanizing steel protects it from rusting. The molten galvanizing material almost looks cold to touch, but would melt your fingers in a second. Stephanie handles the material carefully and wears heavy-duty protective equipment to ward off potential splashes.
While Stephanie really enjoys her job, she likes not having to think about it when the workday's over. “You can't find a better career in another industry. It's fast paced, the opportunity for advancement is great and financial gains cannot be compared with any other sector.”
As a production worker, Stephanie performs different tasks depending on where she's working in the mill. She can be in quality control, shipping and handling or operating a machine called a welder. This tool welds the beginning of a new coil of steel to the end of the one already on the production line in order to create one continuous strip of metal. The steel moves along the production line and goes through several furnaces and a zinc bath to become galvanized. The final product can then be used in the automotive and construction industry.
Jennifer: Quality Control Inspector
These days, many auto manufacturers are using steel tubing in many structural parts of a vehicle. Ensuring that the steel quality is within specification is the job of quality control inspector Jennifer Zahra.
Not only will Jennifer chase a problem pipe down the line to be certain it's been marked as defective, she also tests the tube to determine exactly what the problem is. From there, the appropriate production related adjustments are made.
Jennifer is on the leading edge of a new generation of steel workers. Automation has reduced the number of people it takes to produce steel while technology has increased the knowledge-base needed for the job. However, the human eye is still required to check quality on a regular basis.
“The people I work with are probably the best part of my job. Another attractive aspect about the steel industry is great benefits and great salary and this, of course, translates into a great lifestyle.”
In order to work in a steel mill, you need to enjoy working in a team and be willing to learn. You have to have excellent communication skills in order to communicate to your team properly. Flexibility, versatility and an open mind also help.
Christine: Research Technician
It didn't take long for Christine Guérin to find work after she graduated. Her diploma in analytical chemistry was still hot off the press when she was hired by a steel manufacturer as a steel research technician.
Christine's job is to improve steel quality and investigate any defect issues that occur. It's an ideal venue to satisfy her natural curiosity about the mysteries of science.
To be a success in any business, you have to be resourceful and develop effective work habits. There seems to be a lot of opportunity for success in the Steel industry. Many of Christine's classmates found work while they were still in training.
There are now nearly three thousand different chemical components to steel and that don’t include the ones created for special usage by researchers like Christine. For example, the new, super-strong steel, means that you can build an identical structure using 35 percent less steel than thirty years ago.
Video details:
Run time: 24 minutes total, including three segments of approximately 8 minutes each.
Format: DVD. Closed-captioned.
Year: 2006
Note: Videos are interspersed with Canadian salary and labor statistics, which are similar to the numbers in the United States.
Policies: There is a no-return policy on these videos.
Grade level: Middle School, High School, Two-Year College, Four-Year University
