How JCPS, local business and unions work together to prepare women for welding jobs

Danielle Roberts lays down her welding torch, raises her helmet, and wipes a trickle of sweat off her face, leaving behind some smudged dirt on her smiling face.

The 19-year-old woman is a full-time welder at WireCrafters, a local business known for producing welded wire partition products such as cages, lockers, and railings.

The welding field, heavily dominated by men, is seeing a growing number of female welders like Roberts join the ranks. Nationwide, there were nearly 6,000 more female welders employed in 2023 than a decade earlier despite the industry as a whole seeing an employment decrease, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

In Louisville, female welders have become more visible, with 135 total women working some type of welding job last year, according to data from KentuckianaWorks. While that number is small in comparison to the more than 2,100 males employed in the welding industry in the Louisville area, it represents significant growth among women joining the career field over the last decade.

Across Louisville, intentional efforts spurred by Jefferson County Public Schools, local businesses, and local union halls to recruit women into welding are starting to pay off, with some expecting to see even more women commit to the career field this year.

"I think it's powerful because obviously there's a decrease in welders ... but the fact that women [say], 'I can do this,' it's a good thing," Roberts said. "I feel like you go through years of school and it's always women were down here, and men were up there, well now it's like women are maybe a little bit higher."

How welding careers have grown for women in Louisville

With job opportunities on the rise for female workers, David McCoy, senior welding instructor at Pleasure Ridge Park High School, has made it his mission to bring more women into his program.

"The words [McCoy] said were, 'We need more females in [welding]', and ... I thought this might be something I could do and get behind," said Ayanna Davis, a junior at PRP who has been in the welding program for two years.

McCoy currently has 28 female students enrolled in his welding program at PRP High School, twice as many female students as he had four years ago. Along with simply having more female students in his class, McCoy said the girls take advantage of the program and focus on the details and artistry of welding while building sustainable skills for a career.

"I'm telling you today ... I could take five young ladies out there, the best five young ladies and bring in my best five guys, and the girls will whip them," McCoy said. "That's a fact, I'm not just saying that."

And it's not just his classroom that has seen more women join the welding ranks in Jefferson County.

According to data shared by KentuckianaWorks, the Louisville region workforce development board, female welders have outpaced male growth in the field since 2013. While more individual males have entered the field in Jefferson County, women's presence in the industry has grown by roughly 14% in the last decade.

"Louisville is rich, with our industry, with our trade," McCoy said. "In the last six years I used to never be able to say, 'I can guarantee you a job.' Today I can say 'I can guarantee you a job.'"

How skilled labor jobs, like welding, give more opportunities to women

In Kentucky, a state ripe with manufacturing jobs, welding is an essential career path to support the industry.

"Kentucky is a hub of manufacturing and advanced manufacturing, and every huge economic development deal we land, we're going to have to have the trades to help us build the product and get it off the ground," Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman told the Courier Journal.

PRP junior Liberty Koerner described herself as a student who wasn't focused on school and wasn't planning to go to college, unsure of what her career would be — until she met McCoy.

Koerner became obsessed with welding and said McCoy "makes me want to come to school every day." She plans to become a full-time welder after graduation next year and feels her future has a sense of direction, doing something she loves.

For many skilled trades jobs, like welding, attending college is unnecessary. These careers rely on apprenticeships, co-op programs, and other hands-on learning approaches that allow students to work and earn money while learning the trade.

Coleman said it's important to show women opportunities for future success that don't require a college education or student loan debt.

"For so long if girls didn't want to go to college, their options were pretty limited and, in this case, it's opened up another door for them if that's the path they choose, to be able to build a life," Coleman said.

Roberts at WireCrafters was hired full-time immediately after she graduated from PRP and completed her welding co-op. She says the money she saved by doing a welding co-op instead of college allowed her to buy a new car, get an apartment, and live comfortably.

Chad Anglin, operations manager at WireCrafters, said his welder's starting pay is more than $20 per hour and they can make upward of $28 per hour. The annual median wage for welders in the greater Louisville area is just shy of $46,000 with experienced workers surpassing $65,000, according to KentuckianaWorks.

"It is imperative that we always tell our students, you don't have to go to college," Anglin said. "If you don't want to go to college, you can still be successful."

The Future Women in Welding competition

In January, McCoy alongside UA Local 502, a union representing plumbers, pipefitters, and more, hosted the second annual Future Women in Welding competition.

In its inaugural year, 36 women and girls from across the state participated. In 2024, the number of participants nearly doubled.

The competition McCoy helped create, which allows welders to showcase their skills and perform challenging welding tasks, grabbed Coleman's attention, prompting her to visit UA Local 502 on competition day.

"It was really cool to be able to see all of these different young women from different parts of the state, taking interest in this and being encouraged by the trades to pursue this field because they know the more women that enter this field, the more diverse they are, the better they'll be," Coleman told the Courier Journal.

Though more women are joining McCoy's program, he knows there is still work to be done.

"When you think of welding, you think of men, and you think of how they're doing it. You're not seeing all the women behind it, as well," Davis said. "And ... when you finally see someone who's your same gender, looking just like you ... you finally feel like maybe I'm able to do this too."

Contact business reporter Olivia Evans at oevans@courier-journal.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter at @oliviamevans_.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: More women are getting welding jobs in Louisville. Here's why