Women are reshaping manufacturing, proving that leadership, inclusion, and mentorship — not machinery — drive lasting progress in the industry.
Allison Roberts Grealis
President and Founder, Women in Manufacturing Association
Talk to most people about manufacturing, and they’ll picture equipment before they picture people. However, after 25 years in this field, I’ve seen that the opposite is true. Progress doesn’t start with machinery; it starts with leadership. Women are stepping into those roles in ways that are changing the face of the industry.
Historically, manufacturing has been, and in many ways still is, a male-dominated space. Yet, in just the past two decades, I’ve witnessed a remarkable shift. Women have stepped into roles across operations, plant leadership, engineering, supply chain, and executive management, and with them came new ways of thinking. They didn’t just enter the industry; they helped evolve it.
The impact of women
One of the greatest impacts women have had is on workplace culture. By bringing their lived experiences as leaders, parents, innovators, and problem-solvers, women have helped companies recognize that long-term success demands inclusion. Policies that once ignored caregiver responsibilities have been rewritten. Flexibility, once considered a special accommodation, is now recognized as a business advantage. Twenty years ago, lactation rooms — often then called “mother’s rooms” — were almost unheard of on the plant floor. Today, they’re becoming standard — not because compliance required it, but because women in leadership championed it.
The pandemic accelerated this shift, forcing companies to confront the reality that flexibility isn’t a women’s issue; it’s a workforce issue. When caregiving responsibilities peaked, it was often women in leadership who pushed for policies that supported not just themselves, but everyone balancing work and life. They didn’t just advocate for themselves; they advocated for systems that enabled entire teams to thrive.
At Women in Manufacturing Association (WiM), we often say, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” That visibility is finally growing. More women are ascending into senior-level roles, serving on leadership teams, and modeling what is possible for the next generation. Our WiM Hall of Fame now includes dozens of trailblazers. This year alone, we are recognizing 12 new inductees. Many of these honorees have built global operations, launched women’s affinity groups within their companies, reimagined workforce training, and, most importantly, lifted others as they climbed.
That, perhaps, is the defining characteristic of women in manufacturing: They don’t rise alone; they bring others with them.
The real future of manufacturing
Are we where we need to be? Not yet. Women still make up less than a third of the manufacturing workforce, and representation in leadership, while growing, remains far from parity. However, there is enormous momentum ahead. More women than ever are graduating with advanced degrees. Their skill sets align seamlessly with today’s manufacturing needs: data fluency, systems thinking, cross-functional collaboration, and people-centered leadership.
So, when people ask me about the future of manufacturing, I don’t point to robots or AI. I point to the women leading plant turnarounds, launching new technologies, redesigning culture, and making space for those who will follow.
The industry is changing — not just in how we make things, but in who is shaping what comes next. Women are at the forefront of that change.
