Bonnie Livermore is 29-years-old. After high school, in 2005, she immediately went to college.
"I didn't really know what I wanted to do, so I chose a liberal arts degree and it didn't really work out for me so I stayed with my current job and I'm still there today."
Over the course of thirteen years at her restaurant job she's worked her way from crew member to general manager. Along the way, she was exposed to hands-on stuff, like maintenance work, a little electrical, even fixing the grills.
"I just kind of figured out that's what I wanted to do, and I really enjoyed it."
Now, Livermore is student at Monroe Community College's Applied Technologies Center. She's enrolled in their HVAC program, but as a woman, she makes up an extreme minority of students: less than five percent.
Kevin French is chair of Applied Technologies. He says they try to encourage women like Livermore to enroll through partnerships with high schools, through grants, and through utilizing women leaders in the field.
He says unfortunately, people can have preconceived notions about the trades that hurt their efforts.
"You think about an auto mechanic, what has the picture been painted for your typical auto mechanic, or somebody that's in a tool and dies shop, or anybody that does any type of trade work?"
If these are traditionally viewed as male, blue collar jobs, French says women might not even consider them as potential career paths. He says celebrating examples of success can make women feel less isolated and apprehensive about entering these male-dominated fields.
French says he's tried to live by example.
"My daughter is taking the firefighter's exam and I fully support that and I know she'll do well. That's a great example of someone serving in a non-tradition occupation for their gender."
French says, at MCC, they're using the tools they have to overcome stereotypes about the trades, and position more women to enter expanding skilled job fields like manufacturing.
