36 - Friday, January 31, 1992 —- North Shore News

AUTOMOTIVE A womans place is in the ...garage

PICTURE A typical automotive garage. Cars up on racks Wee and various tools scattered about. The incessant sound of a banging and tinkering. And in the midst of it all, a stereotypical ‘‘grease monkey,’’ an automotive worker clad in dirty coveralls and perspiring as he works intently on a

car. Only this time, the image is significantly different.

This time, the he is a she.

In a society where the time- honored connection between guys and cars is a given, women are challenging the idea that an automotive aptitude is genetic. Women like 29-year-old Teresa Jones have managed to get a foot in the garage door.

“I like the physical work,’’ says Jones as she takes a break from the body repair task at hand. “*The physical product, when it’s finished, is something to be proud of. The pay is good. Besides, it’s better than sitting behind a desk.””

Jones is learning Automotive Collision Repair, one of the technical training programs of- fered at Vancouver Community College ~ King Edward Campus. She is.one of a small group of women in the automotive pro- gram, pursuing what is, for them, a decidedly non-traditional career.

The same mind set that says a woman’s place is the home also suggests that her place certainly isn’t in the shop. Jones says this is a past reality that hasn’t been for tack of talent or interest,. but for lack of opportunity.

“Women just didn’t get into it because they were at hoine with the kids,” says Jones. ‘‘Now we've got the chance.”

“T think it’s great,’ says in-

Un miners :

structor John Ford. ‘‘It’s good for the trade. It makes me feel better to see more women getting into it.’

Since coming to Vancouver Community College four years ago, Ford estimates he’s taught a half dozen female students, all of them successful. ‘‘It’s obvious that the attitudes are changing,”* he says, ‘‘and more women are getting interested.”’

For Jones, this career path is one in family footsteps; both her father and brother work with cars. “T’ve been around it all my life,’ she explains with a faugh. ‘‘I didn’t want to fight it anymore, so I joined it.”

The same can be said for Denise Cumming. Having tried a number of other career areas, Cumming fell back on her life-long interest in cars and motorcycles. ‘‘All my life,’ she shrugs. ‘‘Finally I decided this is what I want to

”

While Cumming and Jones have

advanced to the body work pro--

gram, sisters Marta and Christina Castaneda are in the Automotive Painting and Refinishing Pro- gram. Cumming realizes that, for all of them, automotives is a ca-

See Male page 37

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TERESA JONES, a student in Vancouver Community College’s Automotive Collision Repair Program,

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