Women In Tunneling seeks RSVPs for WTC event
21 April 2016Global--During RETC 2015 in New Orleans 16 women met for breakfast and created a contact list. From there, plans for a meeting in 2016 quickly grew with the use of the Women In Tunnelling Linked In group. "It's becoming bigger than what we expected," said organizer Elisa Comis, project engineer with The Robbins Company.
One of the group's goals is to dispel misconceptions about women working in tunnelling, both to encourage more young women to join the industry and to discourage false perceptions within the industry.
"Basically the aim is to share the experience of women who are already making it in the business," Comis said, explaining that these misconceptions can deter young women who seek out another engineering field. "There are a lot of misconceptions about how tunneling is much harder for a woman."
Women in Tunnelling (WIT) is holding a meeting Tuesday, April 26, at 12:00pm at the Thirsty Bear Brewery (661 Howard Street, San Francisco, California, 94105, telephone 415-974-0905). Anyone, including men, is welcome to RSVP for and attend the lunch by emailing erin.clarke@jacobs.com and WIT is worldwide group. The meal will be fully paid for by sponsors Lester Bradshaw, president of Bradshaw Construction; Jim Morrison, president of ILF USA; Gary Brierley, president of Dr. Mole Incorporated; and The Robbins Company.
The meeting will include forming a mission statement, picking a leader (or possibly multiple chairs to help with the workload), and brainstorming ideas on how to include men. "It doesn't need to be open to women only," Comis said.
"There will be some discussion on how we should manage the group, we want to give it some structure, find funds for the next event, maybe have speakers, etc."
Anyone unable to attend Tuesday's meeting is encouraged to find out more by joining the Linked In Group https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4470112/profile
