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Up Topic Chit-Chat & Non-Welding Discussion / Off-Topic Bar and Grill / Women welding inspectors!!!!
- - By XPERTFAB (**) Date 05-25-2007 04:49
My significant better half and I were discussing inspection and welding as we do every night (URGHH!) when she asked me "How many women welding and/or structural steel inspectors do you think there are in the world today?"  I did not have a clue.  I only have worked with three.  One of which I sleep with which brings its own set of challenges for sure.  Anybody got any idea How many women are actively working in this field?
Your thoughts and comments are welcome.

XPERTFAB
Parent - - By Tommyjoking (****) Date 05-25-2007 08:43 Edited 05-25-2007 08:46
Well.....I only met two one young lady fresh out of trade school and into the hades of the boiler shop....she certainly got the attention strolling thru the shop in a full set of anchors!!!  But she could do the work and run some nice welds...eventually I think she left for greener pastures...that and the fact of the sledgehammers being a bit much for her frame...don't know where she ended up.  The second I met in a structural steel shop...nasty gritty hard work and she burned em in there right along with anyone else.

I do got good news...one of my daughters (16 yrs) wants to follow in daddys footsteps and is taking welding in school and wanting to work with me at every opportunity.  She wants to end up with me in aerospace...And all I can say is thats great but you got a few steps to take before we get there......She outdoes all the boys in her class with ease...naturally!!! jeez look who her dad is!!! LOL  

So I do believe there will be another young women welder slinging fire and creating some legends of her own soon.  At least while she is thinking on college if not life long.
Parent - - By jon20013 (*****) Date 05-25-2007 11:59
I met several while involved in a union construction project in Washington state and also in Michigan back in the 1980's... don't know how many stuck with it but there were a bunch out there.
Parent - - By Joseph P. Kane (****) Date 05-27-2007 22:12
Expert Fab - Jon

Quickly off the top of my head, I believe there are several female CWIs out there and a quite a few SS&WSIs.  I don't see it as rare and unique.

I believe the longest serving female AWS CWI is Anna Petroski.   I mention her name because many people have attended her wonderful seminars (ATEMA Solutions), and she probably has quite some name recognition!  I know of five other female CWIs and Two (International Code Council / International Conference of Building Officials) - Structural Steel & Welding Special Inspectors, who are not CWIs. 

I know one female CWB welding inspector up in Quebec. I was doing QA and she was one of the in-house QC inspectors on a bridge job I was assigned to.  She was quite dilligent and quite competent.  I also heard that there was one other female CWB (active) at that same company in Quebec.  I was told that one of the female welders on night shift gave up her CWB so that she could go back to welding on the night shift with her husband. (The CWBs were subject to sudden and indeterminate length shift changes, which is inconvenient for a solid marriage.)  So, that would be three female CWBs in one company!

I know of one female CWI who was even nominated to be "CWI of the Year" a while ago, (when the ink was barely dry on her CWI card.)  There was a feature length article published about her in the Welding Journal.  Back in the early '90s there was a female CWI who owned a testing lab in upstate NY, and had three male CWI working for her,  who was nominated for "CWI of the Year".

I know of two other females, who supposedly were CWIs, but lost the credential due to inactivity. (One became a PE for a large Egineering Firm in New Jersey, and the other went to jail for drug sales!)  I know of another female CWB inspector who was also married to an AWS CWI/CWE, who lost his job as a educator and couldn't work in education any more as part of a plea bargain agreement.  He couldn't go to Canada with her (his wife) because of his plea bargain, (Felony record) and so she was talking about becomming an AWS CWI so they could both work in the United States.  Then, he didn't renew his CWI for some reason, and they both supposedly got mixed up in drugs and went to jail!

In AWS, we have Pam Michalski who is a PE and a CWI on the B-5 Committee.  There may be more.  HG/tx from the Forum might be a CWI / PE.

I do not know if there any statistics on male / female numbers, or M/F ratios, but I suspect that there are several more females than the average male CWI or welder has run into..
Parent - - By HgTX (***) Date 05-29-2007 18:40
Just a PE here; I'd have a tough time filling the experience requirement for CWI. 

And I'm from Joisey too, but have refrained from drug trafficking so far!

Hg
Parent - By Joseph P. Kane (****) Date 05-30-2007 12:38
You're safe, the drug dealer was from Newark Delaware or Elkton Maryland. the one who became an Engineer was from Long Island and  went to Ammann & Whitney as an EIT.  I don't think they knew each other.
Parent - By HgTX (***) Date 05-31-2007 18:18
I think AISC's auditor Pat Thomashesky is a CWI too.

Hg
Parent - By CWI555 (*****) Date 05-27-2007 23:09
I've meet only two female CWI's in my career. I've meet far more female NDE techs. It's common that they are running as a team either with their husband or another female. I've ran into a few dozen female welders, most of which where pretty good.
Of the inspectors, it's been the nuclear types that I've found to be better than average. One in particular stuck out in my mind because she was an exceptional UT tech. as well as mt, pt, rt, vt, et. I am not easily impressed with nde techs, but this lady did impress me. Performing IGSCC scans she picked up on some flaws that everyone else had called geometric. She stuck to her guns in the ensueing chit storm, and sure enough she was right.
I've ran into her a couple of times since, and last I heard her and her husband where retiring. I've seen RT techs as well, but they are especially rare for field crews. Just from personal experience and no real basis otherwise, for every 50 welders and inspectors I've run into there was 1 woman in the crowd.

My two cents worth.
Gerald
Parent - By bozaktwo1 (***) Date 05-30-2007 01:27
I have met several up in WA State, none here in South Texas so far.
Parent - - By gekogrrl Date 07-10-2007 14:23
I am a CWI in Houston with 10 years of NDE and structural experience.  I work in a pump fab facility.  Before I took my CWI exam last November, I had the fortune to meet an old school female welding inspector.  I earned my time in the trenches, from boilers and heat exchangers to aircraft carriers and submarines (that was the best time in life).  If I'm not getting dirty, I'm generally not happy.
There are a lot more of "us" out there than we realize, you're just them more now.  Acceptance is growing, but there are a few hard-heads out there!
Parent - - By rebekah (**) Date 07-30-2007 17:46
Hey

The lady I work with is going for her CWI, shes been welding for 20 years and thought she might try her hand at that.  We are in Texas so there's another for the LoneStar State.  Also, the Austin Community College has a great course for CWI, and there is usually one woman in every class of 10 so there might be more coming in the future.

Rebekah
Parent - By JA (**) Date 08-11-2007 03:39
the job i'm on now , a 14 story building , has 11 structural steel/welding inspectors , 5 of them are female........
Parent - By RANDER (***) Date 08-11-2007 04:21
Last job I was on had Lady QC who didnt know JACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The MAN who replaced her knew LESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I welcome all --------   and have been humbled by all sexes.   On the job and off I might add!!
Up Topic Chit-Chat & Non-Welding Discussion / Off-Topic Bar and Grill / Women welding inspectors!!!!

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