My whole career I've been struggling with the lack of female active involvement and leadership in the automotive industry. Sure, there are women around here. I see them around. But besides the obvious omittance from leadership, there is also a noticeably low number of women who are actively participating in the automotive industry outside of their daily work day.

Last month at the MICHauto Summit (#MAS15)—an annual conference focusing on how Michigan can leverage its automotive heritage to lead the research, design and manufacturing of next-generation mobility technology—I looked around the Cobo Center Ballroom and I noticed I was surrounded by the same crowd as every other automotive event. Men.

Wouldn't be an auto event if I wasn't surrounded by men. #aspiringgirlboss Where is my spirit animal @mtbarra? #MAS15 pic.twitter.com/G808WZgpMU

— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) September 30, 2015

Not only where the attendees primarily men, the speakers list was male dominated as well.

Over 30 speakers @MICHauto & only 2 are Women. We need to include more women in leadership #MAS15 Plenty of us in the audience! @WomeninMfg

— Meghan Hasse (@meghanhasse) September 30, 2015

And honestly, I'm not that surprised. The dominating male representation at industry events is only a window into what is actually going on in the industry. What is STILL going on.

The Facts
The automotive industry talent pool is comprised of nearly 60% women. A number that still shocks me. If we're dominating the industry, why don't we make ourselves known? We have good insight and we deserve a voice. Why don't we take over?

We try but the fact is only 3.3% of executive positions in the automotive industry are filled by these women. This figure has varied little over the years, indicating change is happening more in the intent than in the reality. And while there are prominent women executives in automotive, the numbers show those women are virtually alone within industry leadership. Their rarity suggests that talented women have significantly greater opportunity in industries outside the automotive sector.

And you would think that with Mary Barra, the first female CEO of a major global automaker. holding reign at GM just down the street that we would begin to see the tides turning, at least locally, within the automotive industry.


The weirdest part about all of this: the automotive industry is driven by women. Annually, women spend $200 Billion on automotive vehicles and related services. Women are 80% of all automotive buying decisions made in the U.S.

But even though the industry depends on women consumers, we still don't have a larger presence in leadership roles. Why?

What Can We Do?
I don't blame this problem entirely on oppression from our male coworkers or a lost invitation from the good 'ol boys club but or mostly on ourselves. The first step into breaking through the glass ceiling (and staying above it) is making our numbers known. Remember, we make up roughly 60% of the industry's working professionals and we dominate the consumer audience. So why aren't we 60% of industry event attendees? 60% of the keynote speakers?

We need to go to these events. We need to network. We need to take the initiative to learn more. Learn everything humanly possible about this awesome industry we are all a part of. Be confident. And speak up! These are they things that cannot be taken away from us or kept out of reach, yet I seldom see women stepping forward. We need to take our place in the spotlight and make ourselves known! We need to be active participants in our industry. Once we are recognized as a force to be reckoned with maybe then we will earn the recognition we deserve.

But until we stop hiding behind our desks I will continue to be the minority—a lone purple dress in a sea of black and navy suits. If you're ready to venture out into the world, let me know and I'd be more than happy to be your ally.

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If you're interested in becoming more involved in the automotive industry, check out Inforum's AutomotiveNEXT group. AutomotiveNEXT is a powerful network and supportive community for women in Automotive that inspires and empowers them to lean in, achieve their full potential, and make a lasting impact in the industry.

This week TIME released their annual "Person of the Year" edition, an award given to Pope Francis for 2013. Since the announcement there has been a lot of buzz about the number of female awardees since TIME started this tradition in 1927, 89 years ago. Sadly you can count the number of female award winners on both hands.

Every year a person is given the namesake "Person of the Year" by, for good or bad, most affecting the news and our lives. Past winners include almost every president, international political figures, and business figureheads—but these are seldom every women. The women that have won usually made the cut due to their status by marriage (Madame Chiang Kai-Sheck shared her "Man and Wife of the Year" award in 1937 with her husband) or by hereditary (Elizabeth II in 1952). "American Women" as a whole also won the award in 1975 but that felt a little patronizing.

To address the backlash TIME has been receiving about being behind in the times by not recognizing the efforts of individual women around the world, Radihika Jones, Deputing Managing Editor of TIME, published an article to address the gender imbalance of the magazine's Person of the Year award. Her statements, however truthful and blunt, are a harsh reminder of what women are up against:

"It seems like too few women, over the course of nearly nine decades. But it’s a fair reminder that for much of TIME’s history, women seldom held the kinds of positions of power that would set them up for Person of the Year status. But we still haven’t seen a female President, nor are our corporate ranks exactly overflowing with female CEOs—two job categories that often feed the Person of the Year machine. As long as those imbalances exist in the real world, it would be wishful thinking to try to balance them on an annual cover of a magazine."

Love it or hate it—it's the truth.

I find this statement especially interesting considered the timing. Jones published this article one day after General Motors named Mary Barra as its new CEO succeeding Dan Akerson. This change in leadership makes her the first woman CEO in automotive.

In September I had the pleasure of hearing Akerson, then Chairman and CEO of GM, speak about the gender imbalance in automotive at the 2013 Michigan Automotive Summit—an event that change my perception of the industry. Akerson admitted:

"Right now they're car guys. Someday one of the Detroit Big 3 will be run by a non-car gal."

I think a lot of us saw this as foreshadowing to Barra's rise, she was already one of the highest ranking women in the industry, but I was surprised by how quickly this statement became a reality!