spring2018

estiMATed industry job gROwth
5.3% 6.5%
inDUSTRY aveRAge
nATIOnAL aveRAge
2014 2024
“I didn’t even know what a ratchet was until I was
20,” she says. “I had some car trouble and my dad,
who always helped me with stuff, was 100 miles
away. I felt so helpless.” After that experience, she
decided she needed to know about her car and
how it worked, so she signed up for the class—and
got hooked. “I just had so much fun, and I started
looking at a future as a mechanic … and I decided
to go for it.”
The demand for female technicians and mechanics
is high. Dealerships, service facilities, and trade
schools are desperately seeking more women to
join the ranks. And the money is good; according
to Universal Technical Institute,
the median salary for auto
technicians is $43,000
a year. Angela Blumer,
a diesel mechanic
who works as
an enforcement
supervisor for BAR
in San Diego, says
women should
definitely consider
going into the trade.
“If you like good pay, if you like taking care of people,
if you like fixing things, it’s the perfect job,” she says.
“The potential for income is enormous. I think a lot
of people miss what you really can make when you
know what you’re doing.”
The love for automotive repair came early for Blumer,
who has been working in the trade for 31 years. Her
interest started when she was 10 years old and she
helped her mom’s boyfriend remove, take apart, and
rebuild an engine on a 1967 Ford Mustang. She
started working as a mechanic on her 18th birthday
and worked her way to journeyman level in eight
years as a diesel truck mechanic at Ryder, where she
overhauled transmissions on the trucks as well as
performed regular maintenance.
gender cOMposition in the profession
12,079
u.s. feMALe workFORCe in 2015
728,429
u.s. MALe workFORCe in 2015
Changing the need
You don’t need to dig up statistics or consult studies
to know that, historically, the population of auto
mechanics has been overwhelmingly male. Mechanic
work has always been associated with the image of
the grease monkey and the requirement for physical
strength and heavy lifting—factors that could swing
the decision to go into the trade over to “no” for
some women.
Angela Blumer,
BAR Enforcement Supervisor
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