Greater Altoona Career and Technology Center with a need to expand their program offerings.

The center outgrew the female locker room and installed 30 additional lockers during summer 2025 to accommodate the increasing number of high school and post-secondary female students, said GACTC Assistant Principal Chelsea Gibbons.

Of 43 female students currently enrolled at the center, at least one is enrolled in traditional trades such as HVAC, electrical, cabinetmaking, carpentry, masonry, precision machining, powersports, welding, automotive technology, auto/diesel technology and collision repair.

GACTC collision repair student Maura Shaw-Rourke (left) waits for her instructor to give direction before spraying paint on a piece of material that student Anah Beschler holds in place. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow

Young women are realizing that they don’t have to be boxed into a specific career because of their gender, Gibbons said.

“Eventually we’ll stop using the word ‘non-traditional’ because it’s just creating a new norm,” she said. “And that’s what we’re witnessing here: this shift in cultural perspective.”

According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, women still only make up 4.3% of construction trade workers in 2024. But statistics aren’t keeping female GACTC students from chasing their dreams.

Paving the way

Choosing to study collision repair was the best decision Tyrone Area High School senior student Anah Beschler said she’s made in her life, as she first discovered the program in 10th grade.

Mirror photo by Colette Costlow

She had been taking collision repair classes at GACTC for two years before securing a spot in the school’s cooperative education program, where she now works with local restoration company Legendary GT/Fieldstone Continuation Cars to restore classic cars.

While she is their only female employee, she said her gender has never caused an issue inside her work environment.

“They just treat me like I’m somebody who wants to learn, and I’m there to learn,” she said.

Growing up in today’s society, she said she’s grateful that she doesn’t have to be ashamed for following her dreams.

“I love seeing other girls in the locker room doing the same stuff,” she said. “They all enjoy the same stuff that I do.”

Mirror photo by Colette Costlow

During Gibbons’ seven years at GACTC, she said the female student population has doubled.

Principal Lindsay Miksich classified female students like Beschler as incredible, as they are actively breaking gender norms each day while studying in traditional trades.

Male students are beginning to study female-dominated trades as well, according to adult education coordinator Julie Patosy.

There are 10 male students enrolled in GACTC’s health care program, six enrolled in the dental assistant program and one in cosmetology.

Miksich said the administration features female students working in male-dominated trades and male students working in female-dominated trades on their social media accounts.

“We try to get it out there and show via social media that it’s for everybody,” she said. “We want to show that we’re accepting all students in all programs. We want the right student for the right program, whether it’s female or male.”

Creating change

Altoona Area High School junior students Bailey Smith and Lilee Blazer were learning a thing or two on Thursday morning from their instructor, Dan Pielmeier, in GACTC’s automotive technology shop.

Blazer remembered that her grandfather and father worked on cars together throughout her entire adolescence. So when she and her father fixed her sister’s car, she said “something clicked.”

“Like it was right for me to do,” she said. “So I just continued working on it.”

She is currently working on a 1988 Chevrolet Camaro with her father that they found in an old storage facility and purchased for $500.

Likewise, automotive technology was a family affair for Smith, as her father and six uncles worked closely with cars.

“It’s in our blood,” she said, mentioning that she enjoys working with her hands and problem-

solving.

“I like getting my mind working, and I think this (automotive technology) is a good way to do that,” she said. “It’s also a very good life skill to have, even if I don’t go into the field.”

Considering that Blazer and Smith are two of the few female students studying automotive technology, they said Pielmeier makes it very clear that sexism doesn’t have a place inside the classroom.

“He said, ‘These ladies have the right to be here just as much as you do,'” Smith said. And because of that attitude, she said Pielmeier “washed away all those worries” about studying in a male-dominated field.

While some females are obtaining trade skills to make more money, Gibbons said other students are attracted to the safe and inclusive learning spaces GACTC provides.

She said that both male and female instructors made it an “even slate for all students” inside the classrooms.

Many female students believe they must work twice as hard to be on a level playing field as male students, she said. But that work ethic is recognized by GACTC’s instructors, who not only see female students excel but also become leaders.

“I think word of mouth is one of our biggest ways that we recruit students, and I think all that took was one or two female students who were trailblazers in it,” she said.

“Our kids want to be here and be in these programs,” Miksich said, stating that these numbers are also a “testament to our teachers.”

Staying true to you

Over in another garage, Hollidaysburg Area High School senior Skylee Parks said studying powersports is “a nice outlet.”

Growing up, she worked on motorized vehicles such as lawnmowers and mini bikes with her father, as she enjoyed working on her own projects.

She now works hands-on with vehicles and bikes at school, replacing engines, wheels and any aspect that requires a repair job.

Recognizing that she is preparing for a career in a male-dominated field, she said that societal normality doesn’t matter because “you just have to be you.”

“If you want to do something, do it, because no one should be able to stop you from what you want to do,” she said.

Regardless of gender, Gibbons said students can “do what they’re passionate about, and find what they want to do for the rest of their lives.”

And looking into the future, she said gender-specific careers will no longer exist as younger generations continue to chase their dreams.

Meshing opportunities

Watching a childhood friend weld during his free time, Williamsburg cyber senior student Payton Walters became inspired and applied for the GACTC welding program.

Every morning, she goes inside the workshop to start her assigned task for the day, frequently making sparks fly with welding machinery.

But she believes it’s important for young women to create a level playing field in traditional trades, taking away the gender stigma that still exists in modern America.

Many welding companies are also looking for more female welders, Payton’s cousin, Natalie Walters, said, mentioning that the trade also brings along positive financial benefits.

Natalie watched her father weld and work on a sawmill, which is how she initially became interested in the trade. Currently, her plans include working as a welder, as there are many career opportunities in central Pennsylvania.

“It’s a good thing (career) to get into, and I hope to see more females get into this trade,” she said.

Tim Harris has been GACTC’s welding instructor for 18 years, so he’s seen classroom dynamics change firsthand over the years.

In previous years, he said, women heading into the welding industry were not easily accepted as they are in today’s world. Visiting other companies, he’s seen women and men welding side by side.

“The respect has been very equal over the past few years,” he said, adding that parents are also encouraging their daughters to take up welding, too.

Women are typically able to return and retain information more at a young age compared to men, he said. And if they pursue welding in high school, they can choose to continue their education in topics such as engineering.

“All of the females that I’ve had that graduated in my program, close to 70% of them are still welding in (the) industry,” he said.

As societal norms continue to change, he said he makes sure that all female students who walk through his doors are respected.

“Because it typically is a male-dominated field, but the more females come in, there has to be an amount of respect,” he said. “So, I make sure that discipline is happening as long as that respect is happening.”

Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414.