CATONSVILLE, Md. — Cynthia King doesn't break a sweat as she answers questions from an instructor about the heating and air conditioning system of a Jeep Wrangler.
"The expansion valve does what?" he asks.
"It transforms the high pressure, high temperature liquid to a low pressure, low temperature liquid," she responds.
Another correct answer from King. She is a student in CCBC's Automotive Technology Program and is just months away from finishing her course work.
Being under the hood of a car is something she has always wanted to do.
"Growing up, [my dad] liked to fix everything including our cars. I like cars and motorcycles, it was something I wanted to get into," she said.
King said when she started this journey to becoming an auto mechanic, she encountered some doubters.
"Some of my friends were in disbelief that I would want to do this. They say its not “woman-like” or I'm too girly to be in it. I’ve gotten over that."
And she's proving the nay-sayers wrong. Ryan Washington, the program coordinator at the Global Automotive Technology Program, said King is excelling at her work.
"She’s just a fantastic student to have. She’s eager to learn, she’s very attentive," said Washington.
Women like King are helping to increase the number of women in the automotive repair industry, but their numbers pale in comparison to men. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women made up only 1.4% of the industry in 1999. In 2022, it was 12%.
Washington said the opportunity is there for anyone to get into the industry.
"There are more cars on the road now than ever and somebody needs to keep them on the road," he said. "We need technicians and it doesn’t matter whether it's a man or a woman, we just need good quality people."
King looks to fill that demand by one day opening her own, all-female car repair shop.
"For all the women I know, my friends and everybody I’ve spoken to, they have a feeling that they’re not listened to or they’re taken advantage by male repair shops. I figured all female, put them at ease," she said.
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