March is Women’s History Month and we’re shining a spotlight on women in the skilled trades—those who are challenging gender stereotypes and building solid futures through their time at Capital Region BOCES.
High school seniors Destiny Honsinger and Makaya King have found their passion in automotive repair—and are enjoying the opportunity to challenge the perception of who auto mechanics are.
“I like working on cars—I have my whole life,” said King during a break from getting an engine working again in the automotive lab on our Schoharie campus. “It made sense to come here.”
“For Honsinger, the path to our Automotive Trades Technology program was a little different.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do going into my junior year and my mother told me I had to start thinking about college. I looked at the trades and found I liked automobiles,” she said.
Now the young women are among more than 70 students on our Schoharie and Albany campuses who are learning the skills they will need to launch careers in the automotive repair industry.
Here For The Hands-On Work And Learning
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only two percent of the 130,174 automotive mechanics in the U.S. currently are women. Neither student said they are phased by this fact, by learning with mostly male students, or by the perception some people have of who mechanics are.
Instead, Honsinger and King said they are enjoying the hands-on work and learning that a BOCES education offers.
As to the future, Honsinger is planning to go to college to earn an associate’s degree in automotive repair, while King isn’t quite sure what next year will bring.
“I am not sure what I am doing when I graduate, but I will know how to fix cars (thanks to BOCES),” she said.
Learn about our Career and Technical Education program
Recruitment for the 2021-22 school year is now underway. Take a virtual tour of our Automotive Trades Technology program and learn about the 40+ programs offered through our Career and Technical School.