Professor and Associate Dean Marcia Mardis presented the paper “’Sometimes You’re in a Tight Spot’: A Woman Welder Reflects on her Advanced Manufacturing Educational Experiences” at the 2024 EdMedia conference in Brussels, Belgium, on July 2, 2024.

“I can’t even begin to describe what an honor and thrill it was to present this paper in Brussels, Belgium at Odisee, a university focused on educating people for technical professions,” Mardis said.

The paper reports the case of a woman welder educated in one of the Florida Panhandle’s advanced manufacturing programs. Despite their small numbers, women welders are in demand due to their advantages in fitting in small spaces and physical stability.

“Much advanced manufacturing education and work happens in our region, and women are critical members of the welding workforce,” Mardis said “Getting more women into the advanced manufacturing workforce would be great for our area.”

Mardis conducted the research with Co-PI Dr. Faye Jones. Previously, Mardis was PI on the NSF-funded “Assessing Educational Pathways for Manufacturing in Rural Communities: An Investigation of New and Existing Programs in Northwest Florida” project, which ended in March 2024. The research supported FSU and its work in the Panhandle through the InSpire project.

The team sees this work as supporting the FSU ASPIRE research strategic plan’s Sustainable Solutions strategy since a strong, technical rural workforce supports the neighboring counties’ development goals and success.

“We will keep working in this space because we have a lot to learn about how our research can illuminate the many ways in which workforce, disaster resilience, community health, and social needs in the Panhandle are interlinked and how we at FSU can contribute to our region’s advancement,” Mardis said.