May 2025 Volume 7

OPERATIONS & MANAGEMENT

Company Culture and Policy Respondents noted various company policies that help make the forging industry a beneficial place to grow in their careers. As previously mentioned, flexible work scheduling was noted as the most critical company policy in allowing participants to be successful. Additionally, 39% of participants noted the importance of having generous family leave policies, and 45% of participants recommended that having more job-specific training helped them to be successful. In a short-response question about the most important tool for success, in addition to emphasizing the above, many also wrote about having supportive managers, working hard, being confident, asking questions and always being open to learning. Survey-takers had suggestions for how companies can continue to grow to be more inclusive. One participant said, “language matters.” Do your company documents use words like “salesmen” or “servicemen”? How are topics such as diversity discussed? Another participant recommended encouraging more women in technical roles to attend trade shows, industry meetings and recruiting events. This is not only to bring visibility to the status of women within every department but also to provide those women with more experience and opportunities to meet people within the industry. Some participants recommended sponsoring STEM and industry-related school programs. These programs can be a great way to introduce manufacturing to the next generation. Participants also recommended building company culture around values such as being open to new ideas, finding ways to attract a wider range of people, and always working toward learning and growing.

Continued Research Future survey studies of the forging industry can expand greatly on the scope of this one. It would be beneficial to reach more participants and a more diverse participant base. Additionally, it would be interesting to take a deeper look into trends of responses that are based on factors such as experience level, department, managerial level and company size. The results from this survey lead to some potential trends based on these factors, but the quantity of participants gave some hesitation about making judgments based on the different demographics of the participants. The survey was intended to be rather broad, with the hope that future studies could pinpoint specific areas within the experience of women in the forging industry that could use a more in-depth review. Forged Results Although participants were shown to be both grateful and proud of the improvements to the experience of women in the forging industry over time, they also indicated that there are areas that could be improved further. This will allow for greater growth for current and future generations of women who find themselves as part of our interesting, exciting and important industry. Within an industry that is known for such a rich history and ever-growing presence of technological advancement, employee collaboration and manufacturing importance, the women who are forging their path through our industry have a bright future ahead of them. References: 1. https://portal.ed.unc.edu/resources/microaggressions/ 2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/ NBK589697/#:~:text=Implicit%20bias%20includes%20 the%20subconscious,%2C%20affect%20their%20 decision%2Dmaking 3. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/imposter-syndrome Katie Dzierwa Thermal Process Engineer Fives North American Combustion, Inc. Phone: 216-212-9407 Email: katie.dzierwa@fivesgroup.com

Figure 3: Survey participants selected programs and policies that they believed are the most beneficial for helping women in the forging industry build successful careers.

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