A growing number of women are choosing to enter historically male-dominated industries, such as water utilities and politics, and Drumheller is celebrating a higher-than-average representation of women in these sectors.
Half of Drumheller’s water utility workforce is comprised of women, including their Chief Engineer; according to a 2019 World Bank study, worldwide this representation is less than 20 per cent, and even lower at managerial levels.
“We work from where the water comes out of the (Red Deer River) to where it goes back in,” explains Chief Operator Laura Christopherson, adding this includes the water and sewer plants, water towers, and sewer lift stations.
Ms. Christopherson has worked for the Town of Drumheller for 18 years, and as Chief Operator for the last eight years. For most of her career, she has been the only woman on the team, though she says the number of women attending the annual water conference in Banff as operators rather than the wives of operators has risen in the last decade.
In the last year, operators Denise Mutlow and Leann Tonks have joined the water utility crew, and Ms. Christopherson jokes the biggest adjustment has been learning to share the women’s bathroom.
Each operator says they have faced their own unique challenges in the male-dominated industry, from condescending attitudes to having their ability or knowledge in the field questioned by their male counterparts.
“It’s sometimes not easy, but you keep at it, and I find it’s made me more determined in my life,” says Ms. Mutlow.
She adds her experiences in male-dominated industries helped her instill in her now-grown son that women are equals and not to be treated as “less than.”
The newest member of the water utility crew, Ms. Tonks, says growing up as the oldest of three siblings on a farm gave her experience in her professional career when facing discrimination.
Politics are also another historically male-dominated sector, though this trend has shifted at the local, municipal levels.
Drumheller elected Mayor Heather Colberg as the town’s first female mayor in 2017; she was re-elected in 2021, and four of the seven-person council this term are women.
Town Councillor Crystal Sereda, who is serving her first term on council, says Mayor Colberg was a huge inspiration for putting her name forward during the elections. She says she is grateful for the opportunity to learn from Mayor Colberg and other members of council and adds each person on council is at a different stage in their life, which has created a unique dynamic.
“We have staff with very young children, children at home, still juggling work and childcare; my children are at school and more independent; Lisa has kids who are leaving home soon and graduating; and Heather, her children are gone (from the home),” Councillor Sereda says.
Councillor Lisa Hansen-Zacharuk has been on council for the last 12 years and is currently serving her fourth term. She says the local council has always been “very progressive” with an average of two to three women serving per term and says it is great to see more women elected and re-elected to local councils.
However, she laments there are still some big hurdles women face at higher levels of government such as provincially and federally.
“Being a woman brings an interesting perspective to the table, and it’s definitely great for social aspects,” she says.
