On May 15, the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) held a hearing on women in manufacturing. The hearing highlighted the results of a JEC report commissioned by Vice Chair Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and addressed solutions for increasing women’s participation in manufacturing. Click here to see a webcast of the hearing, including remarks from Chair Kevin Brady (R-TX) and Sen. Klobuchar.
“Across all manufacturing sectors in the U.S., women are underrepresented in the workforce,” said Jennifer McNelly, president of The Manufacturing Institute. She continued, “While women represent nearly half (46.6 percent) of the total U.S. labor force, they only comprise a quarter (24.8 percent) of the durable goods manufacturing workforce. The proportion of women in leadership roles in manufacturing companies also lags behind other U.S. industries. In 2012, Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute set out to understand why manufacturing isn’t attracting, retaining, and advancing its fair share of talented women. We surveyed more than 600 women in manufacturing, across functional roles and levels, to gain their perspectives on how effectively their companies recruit, retain, and advance women. We conducted one-on-one interviews with more than a dozen women in a range of roles from senior leadership to individual contributors to gain their insights on human capital and talent development in the manufacturing industry. Today I would like to highlight two of the most consistent responses given by the women interviewed: sponsorship and personal development.”
The following witnesses also testified:
