
A school that wants to increase retention of female students in their Welding program hopped on a Retention Plan Feedback call with me this week.
One of the issues? Women need welding gloves smaller than those available through the school bookstore (which offers only gloves in men’s sizes).
It’s very hard to weld safely and successfully if your gloves don’t fit. Women actually do drop out in frustration over this and similar issues.
The lead instructor for the program reports that women often don’t say anything about their gloves not fitting – they just try to do the impossible and weld with gloves that are too big (or drop out).
We came up with 2 solutions for this problem.
(I’ve worked extensively on sourcing uniforms and equipment sized for women).
The Solutions!
Create an informational sheet on women’s welding gear vendors and make sure female students receive it on the first day of class
Survey female students to see if they have welding gear that fits them – and make sure those who don’t are able to obtain it.
What have you done to ensure your female students can source uniforms and equipment that fit? Let me know in the comments.
Do you need help recruiting and retaining women in your STEM and CTE Programs?
Here’s what some participants in our most recent WomenTech Educator’s Bootcamp Evaluation had to say:

"Actually everything was useful, thank you so much for these wonderful tools and strategies. The examples and evidence provided is amazing."
"I had been doing "recruitment" all wrong, this training helped me to understand what is a more effective way of working. I am excited to apply what I've learned to grow our program."
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