Women of Rail: The Path to Gender Diversity

The United States (US) rail workforce faces significant challenges related to gender diversity. Nationally, less than 10% of rail jobs are held by women, and when examining specific occupations (such as technical, operations, or other non-support roles), the situation is even more dire. This lack of diversity limits innovation, productivity, and workforce sustainability, as research shows that gender diversity positively impacts all of these aspects within an organization. As the transportation workforce as a whole, and the rail industry in particular, is simultaneously faced with an aging workforce and significant numbers of employees eligible for retirement, this further underscores the urgency of the diversity problem. A robust and innovative rail workforce is necessary to develop solutions to complex challenges related to rail safety and efficiency.

The University of Memphis’s Southeast Transportation Workforce Center (PI Stephanie Ivey) was recently awarded a multi-year project from the Federal Rail Administration to begin addressing these issues. The UofM team includes researchers from Fairpointe Planning, Tennessee State University, and Vanderbilt University along with an expert advisory panel chaired by John Orr of Kansas City Southern that includes representatives from CN, the Indiana Rail Road Company, R.J. Corman Railroad Group, Amtrak, the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority, and other industry executives. The research will lead to rich understanding of inhibitors and accelerators to recruitment and retention of women in the rail industry, provide a detailed set of recommendations for increasing representation of women in diverse rail occupations, and deploy a resource toolkit designed to support public and private sector organizations in improving gender diversity in the rail industry.

“We are thrilled to have been selected to lead this important project and are looking forward to working with the rail community as we work to understand barriers to diversity and develop tools to support more inclusive environments,” stated Dr. Stephanie Ivey, Associate Dean for Research, Herff College of Engineering and professor, Civil Engineering.

The proposed project goes beyond current workforce development efforts to create comprehensive, data-driven, and implementable tools for the rail industry to positively impact gender diversity.

The project includes:

1. Underpinning research and data collection documenting rail industry workforce characteristics, challenges, and best practices.
2. Stakeholder surveys of rail employees (all levels) to gauge perceptions of gender diversity and inclusion, attitudes, cultural norms, and beliefs, critical issues, and successful practices.
3. Stakeholder interviews of rail employees (all levels) to explore at greater depth the perceptions, cultural norms, and attitudes and beliefs contributing to gender inequity and to better understand factors that are influential in decisions to enter (and remain in) the rail industry.
4. Development of Web-based Women of Rail (WoR) Resource Toolkit. An innovative outcome of the proposed research is a web-based toolkit that creates a one-stop-shop resource for rail industry professionals to improve recruitment and retention of a gender-diverse workforce. Some examples of the type of resources that will be included in the toolkit are listed below.

1. 1. Best Practice Case Studies.
   2. A searchable, GIS-based repository of connections to professional organizations (state and local chapters); relevant secondary and post-secondary programs (including technical, community college, and university and identification of MSI and HBCUs as part of the search feature).
   3. Women of Rail Spotlights - high-interest profiles of women in all aspects of rail employment.
   4. Women of Rail Video testimonials.
   5. Gender Diversity in the Rail Industry Playbook (with specific content devoted to a range of occupations including craft worker, technical, STEM, business-oriented, law, etc.; partnership connections; and strategies for positive outcomes related to diversity goals; detailed guidance related to problematic attitudes, beliefs, or cultural norms uncovered through the research, etc.).
   6. Rail Career Quick Facts – Short, high-interest factsheets featuring diverse rail occupations.
       

The project extends the Southeast Transportation Workforce Center’s diversity-related research to the rail industry and capitalizes on its expertise and experience in this area.  In addition to the faculty and executives engaged in the research, both undergraduate and graduate students at the UofM will be actively involved in the project.

To learn more about the Southwest Transportation Workforce Center or about this grant, contact Ivey at ssalyers@memphis.edu.