Democrat lawmaker says the word manufacturing 'sounds like a guy,' might be why field has few women

During a hearing on Wednesday, a Democratic lawmaker in the House said the reason why fewer women are involved in manufacturing could be because the term has the word "man" in it.

"Yesterday I met with a manufacturing company, but they also are engaged in getting young people more engaged in manufacturing," Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., said during a Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade subcommittee hearing entitled "AI in Manufacturing: Securing American Leadership in Manufacturing and the Next Generation of Technologies."

Schakowsky continued by saying she thinks that fewer women are in manufacturing because the word itself sounds too male. 

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"So, I asked them, so, how many of those students that are signing up and want to do this? How many are women?" Schakowsky said, adding that they told her it was at least 13%. 

"It was a low number," she said. "And you had mentioned trying to engage more women in manufacturing. I'm just wondering if just the name manufacturing sounds like a guy."  

In a post on X featuring the remarks, Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., who is also on the subcommittee, said, "Us: Let's lead the way and bring jobs back to America. Democrats: ‘Manufacturing’ is a sexist term against women!" 

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According to a 2022 report from the U.S. Department of Commerce, women make up 47% of the American workforce but only 30% worked in manufacturing.