She studied public relations in college and now she’s a technician on fracking jobs in Pennsylvania. Usually she’s the only woman on the drill site, but says that hasn’t been a problem.
“All the guys that I worked with offered a helping hand when I first started,” she says, “but when I rejected it and told them I just wanted to do it for myself, I got their respect really quickly.”
Kerstetter landed the job after finishing a three-week training course at the Pennsylvania College of Technology. School President Davie Jane Gilmour says the college teaches other skills valuable in the oil industry, such as welding and diesel engine repair.
Gilmour encourages young women to pursue work in male-dominated fields.
“Yes, you may be a pioneer in some senses,” she tells them, “but I have a feeling by the time they graduate in four years there’ll be plenty more women in the workforce for them.”
Beyond seeing it as an interesting career, Gilmour says the pay can be quite good and there are plenty of companies that want to hire more women.
Article Appeared @http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/05/09/npr-oil-gender-gap