'Building the Way' for women int the workforce

The panel has the goal expanding women in skilled trades.

While women have made great strides in the workforce... there are still some industries that are underrepresen ted.

Today á the history center of olmsted county hosted an event called "building the way."

Kimt news three's maleeha kamal explains what that means.xxx the women's history circle invited woman from industries that are dominated by men to talk about their experience and how women can move forward in their industries.

These four women work in industries where they are outnumbered by their male counterparts.

One by one they shared their diverse background.

Their goal is to open up conversation about women in the workforce and how to expand to more non traditional roles.

Nats: "i'm currently the only female balancer that we have found in minnesota."

Cheri spading works as a sheet metal union worker... which was not apart of her life plan.

It was the job market that pushed her into the position.

This strong woman works with a small group of men.

She wants to be seen as equal to her coworkers á but admits men and women can share differences.

Cheri sot: "we look at thing differently.

Men tend to get in there and they just jump in and go.

Women we tend to like to step back and look at the big picture."

Those differentces allow them to work well together.

Cheri sot: "they keep me in check because some times i can get to detail oriented and sometimes i keep them in check because i'm like lets look at this."

Catherine rose smith is a carpenter with 20 years under her belt.

She's slowly starting to see more women join her field... and says women bring a lot to the table in roles like hers.

Catherine sot: "women are very detail oriented.

My mind i think it patterns.

If i can see how the pattern goes i can get it done faster."

Both spading and smith say they're well respected in their environments.

Still á women have a long way to go when it comes to being equal in the workforce.

In rochester maleeha kamal kimt./// both women say their goal is to recruit more women to their field.

They'll do that by visiting career fairs and schools to educate the public on women