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Ladies leading industry change

Two women, one an industry pioneer and one an emerging leader, share their experiences and advice for how to usher in a new era that includes more women in manufacturing.

Karen Norheim and Diane Wolf speaking on women in manufacturing at ProFood Tech.
Karen Norheim and Diane Wolf speaking on women in manufacturing at ProFood Tech.

It’s always interesting to hear from different generations of women who work in manufacturing, as we can’t help but wonder how much has changed over the years?

Well, according to research from the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), not much has changed when it comes to the numbers. Specifically, the number of women in engineering professions in the U.S. has not increased since the early 2000s. So, it’s no surprise that over 32 percent of women switch out of STEM degree programs in college and only 30 percent of women who earn bachelor’s degrees in engineering are still working in engineering 20 years later. In the current workforce, only 13 percent of engineers are women.

Wait, there’s more. SWE reports that female engineers earn 10 percent less than male engineers and 61 percent of women engineers report that they have to prove themselves repeatedly to get the same level of respect and recognition as their colleagues.

Someone who knows what it feels like to be the only woman in a classroom or a company conference room is Diane Wolf, who has over 35 years of experience in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry having held key global positions in engineering, manufacturing, product development and capital procurement for Kraft Foods. Wolf’s most recent role at Kraft was as a senior operations executive, and now she works as a consultant to the food and beverage industry.

It’s not been an easy road, Wolf admits, as the male-dominated manufacturing industry is not a very welcoming place for young women coming out of engineering school—or even in school.

“When I graduated from engineering school there were seven of us [women],” Wolf recalls, noting that there weren’t even any women’s bathrooms in the engineering department at the college at the time, so they had to convert a faculty bathroom. “The world has changed, yes it has, but we still have a long way to go.”

Wolf was speaking to an audience of over 120 women (and men) at the PMMI Packaging & Processing Women’s Leadership Network (PPWLN) breakfast which took place during the ProFood Tech event in March. The theme of the interactive networking breakfast was “leading change,” and featured two speakers, Wolf and Karen Norheim, the executive vice president of American Crane & Equipment Corp., a manufacturer of cranes, hoists and material handling equipment.

Norheim, who has 16 years of experience in the manufacturing industry, is a second generation leader at the company, recruited by her father into the family business. She now oversees the day-to-day operations of a 180-person manufacturing facility, but she’s struggled, too, with being the only woman in the room, she said, as well as with the “boss’s daughter” complex.

But she pushed through and even worked to evolve the company in an effort to reinvigorate employee morale, diversify and strengthen the team, and to reach out to new customers. She’s “rebooted” the company culture with a new mission and core values which is encapsulated in the new company mantra “Grit Matters: Perseverance, Heart & Integrity.”

LAST CHANCE TO SAVE! New Trends for Food at PACK EXPO Southeast
The exciting new PACK EXPO Southeast 2025 unites all vertical markets in one dynamic hub, generating more innovative answers to food packaging and processing challenges. Don’t miss this extraordinary opportunity for your business!
REGISTER ASAP FOR $30!
LAST CHANCE TO SAVE! New Trends for Food at PACK EXPO Southeast