Women in the Pressroom

Ed. Note: The following white paper focuses on the status of women press operators. The research centers around a masters thesis done by a recent graduate student in conjunction with an associate professor from Rochester Institute of Technology's School of Print Media and the College of Imaging Arts

and Sciences. Printing is America's fourth-largest manufacturing industry. It is comprised of more than 42,000 operational printing plants. These plants provide slightly more than one million jobs, and produces approximately $161 billion in printed products and services annually. The industry is also highly fragmented, which means that of these 42,000 printers, there are approximately 40,000 smaller firms nationwide competing with one another.

Roles of Women In Printing

Women and minority groups are among the later recruits to the printing employee population. In an exploratory research study by Twyla Cummings-associate professor and graduate program chair at Rochester Institute of Technology (RTT)-on the status of women in graphic communications, most of the women respondents reported that they work in areas such as sales, customer service, computer technology, management, and education. More specifically, a high percentage of women respondents are employed in manufacturing and supplier companies, while an extremely low number worked for prepress firms, industry associations, and universities.

Previously, women have stated that they face different problems, such as prejudices toward their gender in the printing industry, which have been barriers to their employment. However, firms in the graphic communications industry have begun to realize that women will play an integral role in helping them remain competitive in the new millennium.

In today's global marketplace, it is imperative that new entrants be prepared to meet competitive challenges. Companies are searching for individuals who are experiential and who can work in cross-cultural environments. It is important for young women to be coached early in areas such as business strategy, organizational politics, and corporate etiquette if they are to make an impact early in their careers.

Women as Press Operators

Most press operators are trained on the job. Many of them start their careers in other areas of print production. They may have previous experiences as a feeder or assistant press operator. Press operators are required to have knowledge of the features and systems of the press, print process, and color perception. Additionally, they need to have good communication skills, be computer literate, and possess at least a high school degree.

In 2000,17.5 percent of all U.S. printing press operators were women. In 2005, the percentage dropped to 15.6 percent. It is important to note that the total number of press operators declined over that time period. It has been very difficult for women to break into this field because many commercial businesses are family-owned and often passed down to the next male in the family. Open positions are filled internally and typically are not subject to a search.

Attitudinal barriers occur when men fill press operating rooms and choose other men to work with them. In the article "Female Perspective: Women in Printing," Chris Bauer stated, "Women running presses were seen as a novelty; a female in the company boardroom was a rarity." Today, in the 21st century, women are being accepted into the printing industry, but still the number of women press operators is relatively low.

A traditional reason to account for the low number of women in maledominated roles is that many of these jobs require hard physical labor. However, today working as a "pressman" entails using more advanced machinery and does not require a lot of physical stress.

Ara Sparkman, the first female press operator at Arandell, stated, "Any woman could do this kind of printing job." She started her career as an unpaid, six-month trainee in order to become a jogger. A jogger handles printed material once it gets through the press. In order for Ms. Sparkman to get a press operator's position, she had to continue for six more months of training to increase her skill levels.

Looking Beyond the Surface

In order to gain an understanding on the status of women as press operators in the printing industry, a research study on this topic was undertaken at the School of Print Media at RIT in early 2005.

Research was based on information obtained from secondary research and the survey data. Interviews with women employees who have worked or currently work as press operators was supplemented by formal interviews with human resource managers from five printing companies in Rochester, N.Y.

The primary information for the study was based on three interview phases. In the first phase, 300 School of Print Media alumni were surveyed via e-mail with the goal of identifying a sample population of female press operators. Only one female press operator responded who agreed to be surveyed in the phase three interview.

For the second phase, a set of interview questions were sent via e-mail to the human resource managers from 12 commercial printing firms in Rochester, with the purpose of gathering statistical information about the number of men and women working in the different departments of each company.

In the third phase, eight women with press operation experience were identified. A survey was submitted to each of them, resulting in five responses. The questions developed for those women who had press experience were related to the wornens' experiences as press operators, the challenges each individual faced while working in the industry, issues with gender discrimination, and mentoring relationships. In addition, recommendations were explored on how other women who may be considering press operation jobs should prepare themselves.

The Results

To initiate phase one, a questionnaire was distributed to 300 alumni of the School of Print Media. The three primary questions were:

* Where are you employed?

* What is your job title?

* Do you know of any women press operators?

Responses to the first question were not published due to confidentiality issues. The companies these alumni were working for included universities, printers, large corporations, international businesses, manufacturers, and federal aviation services.

Of the 300 surveyed, 39 responded. Eighty-five percent had no women press operators in their departments. However, the press department for two of the alumni employed three women press operators. Additionally, the companies of three other alumni each employed one woman press operator. Surprisingly, with one exception, all of the respondents who answered the survey were male. Ironically, the one female respondent was a press operator who participated in the "Women Press Operators" survey. Respondents' job titles were varied: the majority included managers, specialists, and customer service reps.

To gather the data for phase two, the following interview questions were sent to the human resource managers at 12 commercial printing firms:

* How many people does your company employ?

* How many employees are women?

* How many women work in each of the following departments: pre-press, press, postpress, and finishing/bindery?

Of the 12 firms surveyed, four asked not to be included due to confidentiality issues, and three others did not respond. Subsequently, five companies participated in the survey.

The total number of employees in the companies surveyed ranged from 11 to 300. Unfortunately, the fifth company could not provide the breakdown of men and women it employed. However, when comparing the overall numbers of men and women working at each of the other four printing companies, it was seen that the total number of men is significantly higher than the total number of women employed.

Most of the women employed at the companies surveyed do not work in the prepress, press, or postpress departments. Rather, the majority of women work in, finishing/bindery, or in other unidentified positions. While company five could not provide the breakdown on male vs. female employees, they did divulge that they did not employ a female press operator. This was the case with all of the respondent firms.

Hiring and Recruiting Practices

The second phase of the interview process with these five companies focused on questions about hiring women press operators, recruiting women to work as press operators, and finding qualified press operators in general.

Results indicated that no women have ever been hired as press operators at any of the responding companies. Additionally, no woman ever applied for a press operator position at the first company. The following response from company one was provided: "We never received an application from a woman for this kind of job position." The human resources manager from company five responded in this way: "No, but women are employed in skilled positions in our prepress, sheeting, and finishing departments."

The next question centered on recruitment, specifically, whether any of the companies had actively tried to recruit women to work as press operators. None of the companies did so.

All of the firms stated they had difficulty finding press operators. Additionally, respondents indicated they were not aware of a printing company (locally or elsewhere) that employed a female press operator.

Through exhaustive networking efforts and references from various employees in the printing industry, eight women with press operation experience were identified. Five agreed to participate in the survey and answer questions related to their experience. One woman press operator was from the alumni group, and all of the other women were identified through other sources. Three of the women press operators interviewed work in Rochester. As a group, their press experience ranges from six months to 20 years. Respondents worked with conventional printing presses.

Each woman was led to the press operations field in different ways. Press operator one obtained her bachelor's degree in printing management and used what she had learned in college to talk her way into a press operator's position. Press operator two obtained a master's degree in printing and had the talent to run a press. Press operators three, four, and five were all interested in the process of printing and pursued careers as press operators.

Mentorlng and Promotion

Women press operators were asked whether they had mentors to guide them and help them improve in areas where they lacked skills. Four said that they did not; three had friends or co-workers to help train them. Press operator two had several different mentors during her 20 years of experience. She made it very clear that all of her mentors were men and old-timers in the trade.

When asked about promotions during their career, four of the five women responded that they had not been promoted during their time as press operators. At the time of the research, two of the respondents were relatively new to their positions, which could account for this. One indicated that there was no other position to get promoted into, but she has gained seniority. Another press operator is keeping her eyes open for new, challenging opportunities. Finally, press operator two had already been promoted from lecturer to assistant professor and hopes to be promoted to associate professor.

The next question for the women press operators was whether any of them had faced gender discrimination or hostile behavior from male co-workers or managers.

Two respondents said they have not been discriminated against during their jobs as press operators.

However, of these two, press operator one did face discrimination in college when taking press classes. Often, when it came to group projects, she would provide her opinions and input, and the males in her group would laugh and ignore her. Press operator four commented that she has not experienced any type of discrimination; at the time of this research study she had only been at her current job for six months.

The other three female respondents stated they have experienced some type of gender discrimination as press operators. Press operator two receives unequal pay. However, her outstanding personality and knowledge of the industry is a big advantage, and she has not experienced other types of discrimination.

Press operator three felt she also was being paid unequally. Also, she feels that she has to work harder to prove to others she can perform like a man in her position.

Press operator five felt discriminated against because she also had to do additional work; more than any of the male press operators.

Lastly, the women were asked if they would provide suggestions or recommendations to benefit other women who are considering taking positions as press operators.

All respondents emphasized that practice is the key, and understanding the role of being a press operator is important. Women should not be afraid to get dirty. In addition, it is very important to know how to stay strong and tough when working with colleagues in this maledominated field.

Summary and Conclusions

While the outcome of this research indicates that few women are employed as press operators, other research shows that there are a variety of other job positions in the printing industry besides press operators that women can pursue, such as account executive, customer services representative, production manger, quality color analyst, scheduling coordinator, production manager, and graphic designer.

Overall, the research reinforced the notion that there is a lack of women working as press operators and that it is still a male-dominated area in the printing industry.

Elfrieda Peggins got started in the printing industry as a driver for a print shop in Emeryville, Calif. "I had no idea what printing was until I got that delivery job."

Today, she is the owner of Advantage Printing in San Diego where she still operates the presses. While Ms. Peggins feels that male domination in the industry will never change, she is doing her part by helping to identify and train women press operators. She has trained five women operators in the seven years that Advantage has been in business.

A lack of appropriate mentoring and sponsorships may be one of the reasons large numbers of women do not operate presses. Most of the women in the study did not have a mentor, but instead relied on friends or other staff members. Mentoring is a critical component for success in any industry. "I will always be grateful to the woman who helped me get my first opportunity, and those of us who have succeeded need to mentor other women whenever we can," remarked Rose Mary Bundshco, owner of Bayside Printing in Houston.

Future Women In the Pressroom

Most human resources managers would agree that the pressroom is one of the most difficult areas to staff. This is largely due to the required skill level. The majority of employees in finishing areas such as stacking, feeding, and packing are women, making this a resource pool for employers to draw from.

It is hoped that employers in the printing industry will take action to attract more women into all areas of this historically male-dominated arena. It is crucial for women to develop the necessary professional skills and to get coached by others who have experience in the industry.

As the industry gets more computerized, press operation is changing into a field women can enter, because it does not involve the heavy lifting and dirty work that may have been a hindrance in the past.

Companies are expanding and diversifying into other fields in addition to just printing. Based on these shifts, women may choose to look into new areas rather than pursue the traditional paths that may not provide the same opportunities in the future.