SAN ANTONIO – The manufacturing industry in San Antonio is growing fast, and local nonprofit group Greater:SATX wants to make sure the number of women working in manufacturing grows too.
The manufacturing workforce in our area is currently about 29% women.
Greater:SATX is working with local schools and employers to get the future workforce ready.
About a dozen CAST STEM High School students took part in a summer internship program at Toyota in San Antonio. This past week, some of those female students met their role models there, including Carla Wright, vice president of manufacturing at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas.
“I just told her that I think it’s an amazing role that she has at Toyota, especially being a woman,” said CAST STEM student Carlie Rodriguez. “It’s very encouraging to younger girls, especially like us. We were able to participate in the Toyota internship that they had offered for high school students, and seeing her in such a high-ranking position really gives me inspiration.”
Wright said it is important for these students to see that the skills they are learning at CAST STEM can be used in the manufacturing workforce.
“It’s great to be able to kind of pique that interest for them and give them a little bit of understanding of what there is out there and what they can do,” said Wright.
That’s the goal of Greater:SATX, a group that works toward economic and workforce development locally.
Romanita Matta-Barrera, chief business advancement officer of Greater:SATX, said they want to make sure young people, especially women, consider manufacturing careers with all the employers in San Antonio.
“They can go and become a phenomenal CEO and perhaps lead their own manufacturing company here, or they can be in a leadership position, as well,” Matta-Barrera said.
CAST STEM High School students got a firsthand look at what they could achieve during their summer internship at Toyota.
“It shows how all the jobs work together,” said Destiny Martinez, CAST STEM student. “Because it’s not just engineers there, it’s also like technicians, people who love to code, just coding in general.”
“Time management responsibilities, getting up like a real job at, like, 5 a.m., it was life-changing,” said Jiveth Phillips, CAST STEM student.
According to Greater:SATX, San Antonio has 60,000 jobs in manufacturing, and with future projections, students need to get ready for those jobs.
“It starts early by ensuring that young women and their parents and other people who influence their decisions encourage them,” Matta-Barrera said.
