POSCO values the contributions from its female workers and their role in its success. In the past, The Steel Wire has looked at women in the steel industry as well as a few of the women who have had a lasting impact at POSCO. Please check out the in-depth interviews with Yukyung Lee, Group Leader of Iron Ore Group of the Raw Materials Department; Mihwa Park, Head of the Information Planning Department; Young Choi, Vice President of PR at POSCO Daewoo; and Lee Yoon Hee, Vice President of POSRI.

Today, in honor of International Women’s Day, we want to take a moment to celebrate three women who broke barriers in their own male-dominated fields. Their hard work, perseverance, and dedication allowed the world to recognize and acknowledge the capabilities of women.

Alice Peurala, Woman of Steel Who Fought for Gender Parity in Steel Industry

Women have long been a minority in the metals and mining industries (Catalyst noted in 2015 it was at just 13.3% in the U.S.). However, thanks to the efforts of women like  Alice Peurala, many more rights and protections are afforded to them today.

Alice Peurala was the first and only female to head a steel unit (Source: Daily Kos)

Alice Peurala, the first woman to head a steel unit, played a vital role in the steel industry during WWII. Peurala was one of the first female steelworkers who entered Chicago’s South Works mill in 1953 when there were only a few women left in the field. Most of the women who had steel jobs as a result of WWII had been let go when the men returned home. Those who remained, including Alice Peurala, faced gender discrimination in hiring and promotion. Having been an activist in the civil rights movement, she was determined to transform the steel industry into a more comfortable workplace for female employees.

“I did not win as a woman. I campaigned as a candidate who would do something about conditions in the plant that affect 7500 people – men and women.” – Alice Peurala

When Peurala was denied a promotion from her job in the Metallurgical Division to a job in a product testing lab in 1967 because people thought she was ineligible for a job that required overtime and heavy lifting, she sued the mill at the recommendation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Due to her unwavering efforts, a compromise settlement was reached and in 1969, Peurala finally got her promotion. Her successful lawsuits against gender discrimination and the dictatorial control of the steel company owners were indeed a victory for all women in manufacturing. Alice eventually won the presidency of the Local 65 in 1979 and left an impressive legacy as a fighter for women’s rights.

Raye Montague, The First Person to Design Computerized Ships for Navy 

Raye Montague, the first female Program Manager of Ships in the U.S. Navy, not only shattered the glass ceiling as a black woman in the then male-dominated Navy but also the first person who single-handedly changed the way the U.S. Navy designed and used ships.

Growing up, she was often ridiculed for wanting to become a female engineer and was even denied entry into the University of Arkansas because the school did not allow minority enrollment at that time; however, she did not let gender or race barriers discourage her.

Raye Montague revolutionized the design process for all naval ships and submarines in under 19 hours in 1970. (Image courtesy of thv11.com)

She taught herself how computers worked and rose in the ranks for 14 years to become a computer systems analyst at the Naval Ship Engineering Center.  In 1970, she showed the world that women were just as capable as men in the male-dominated Navy by revolutionizing the design process for all naval ships and submarines – a task she famously completed under 19 hours even though she was given a month by her boss.

Montague retired in 1990 and entered the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 2013. After the award-winning film Hidden Figures was released, which tells the true story of three African-American women who helped the U.S. space program at NASA, Montague appeared on Good Morning America and sparked interest in her story as another true “hidden figure” during that same era, whose dedication and unwavering commitment became an inspiration to all women.

Billie Jean King, Breaking Records and Gender Barriers

Long a champion for social justice and gender equality, Billie Jean King is a 39 time Grand Slam winner and an American former world #1 professional tennis player. She transformed the world for not only female sports players but also for the LGBT community.

In 1973, King famously threatened to boycott the U.S. Open unless the winner of the ladies singles was awarded the same prize money as the men’s champion. Thanks to her efforts, the U.S. Open became the first major tournament to offer equal prize money to women and men.

That same year King famously defeated men’s former world No.1 Bobby Riggs in a match later dubbed “Battle of the Sexes” in the Houston Astrodome proving to the world that women could compete with men in any arena. In the most viewed U.S. tennis match of all time with more than 50 million Americans tuned in to watch, King beat Riggs, 6–4, 6–3, 6–3 for the USD 100,000 winner-take-all prize. More importantly, the match turned King into arguably the first superstar female athlete in the U.S. Later this year Emma Stone and Steve Carell will adapt this story for the big screen, helping to reignite the excitement of King’s win in 1973.

King also became the first prominent female athlete to come out as gay in 1981 and continued to advocate for gender equality and the LGBT community even after leaving tennis in 1983. In 1990 was named one of the “100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century” by Life Magazine and in 2009, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award for her massive contribution to improving gender equality on the tennis court.

King’s demands for equal treatment and equal pay helped pave the way for future stars such as Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, and Serena Williams, the latter who broke barriers of her own at the 2017 Australian Open by winning her 23rd Grand Slam singles title, the most of any player in the Open Era.

“It’s not about the money, it’s about the message we send. We are sending the equality message out that this is the right thing to do. Yes, the men are better than us in some ways. Yes, we’re better in some ways. It doesn’t matter. Don’t you want to share in this world? I do.” – Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King photographed by ©Lynn Gilbert 1978, New York. (Source: Lynn Gilbert)

On International Women’s Day, POSCO honors these three remarkable women who made major contributions in their fields at a time when female participation was incredibly difficult. The bravery and dedication of these women, along with so much more around us who have broken through barriers to ensure gender equality are, and will continue to be,  a source of inspiration for all.

Cover Image Courtesy of Alfred T. Palmer, U.S. Office of War Information.

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Steel is an interesting and essential product, after all, and it is a business where there is as much potential for women to succeed as men, whether in corporate functions, in research and development or on the shop floor. In fact, today, about 20 percent of the salaried and managerial ranks in the field are women, as are 10 percent of hourly workers.

Yet, the journey leading up to this point hasn’t been without its challenges.

True as Steel in Times of Trouble

Throughout World War II, many American women became involved in numerous tasks and duties they rarely had in previous times. As the war became a global conflict of an unprecedented scale, the urgency of mobilizing the entire population quickly led to the expansion of the role of women. With so many men away, women took up jobs that had formerly been considered men’s work.

Such responsibilities included running massive hydraulic presses that cut metal parts, or operating cranes to move bulky airplane parts around factories. Other fields that women entered during the war were the metal industry, steel industry, shipbuilding industry and automobile industry. Women also worked in plants where bombs, weaponry and aircraft were manufactured.

Women proved that they could not only do these hard labor jobs, but in some cases, could do them even better than their male counterparts. For example, women tended to pay more attention to detail. “Nothing gets by them unless it’s right,” noted the foreman of California Consolidated Aircraft in the Saturday Evening Post of the hard working women.

A Long Way to the Top

Most of the women who had steel jobs as a result of WWII were in one way or another forced to leave those jobs when the men returned home. The women who remained, however, soon faced considerable gender discrimination in hiring and promotion.

Female steelworker Alice Peurala was one of them. In 1967, after working at a Chicago-based steel mill for more than ten years, Peurala was denied a promotion from her job in the Metallurgical Division to a better job in a product testing lab. She had been told that since the job required overtime and heavy lifting, she was ineligible as a woman.

After suing the mill at the recommendation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a compromise settlement was reached and in 1969, Peurala finally got her promotion. A few years later, the 1974 Consent Decree was signed by nine major steel companies, the steelworkers union and the EEOC, marking a major advancement in the battle against gender discrimination in the steel industry. Cases like Peurala’s lawsuit helped make this change possible.

Despite this victory, however, gender discrimination still existed in the mills. Women were forced to take sick leave for pregnancy and made ineligible for unemployment. In response, Peurala helped to organize the Local 65 Women’s Committee as well as the District 31 Women’s Caucus.

These women of steel dived head-first into an array of campaigns. They formed alliances with feminist groups and became active in the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW). District 31 in particular made a major push for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), sending hundreds of steelworkers to state legislatures to lobby for equal rights.

Thanks to the efforts of these women of steel, and the ones that followed them, conditions have since continued to improve, making the steel industry a more comfortable workplace for female employees. Women now have career opportunities in a wide array of areas in the sector, ranging from hourly to technical to managerial, and there are no limits to how high up the ranks they can climb.

POSCO, an Ideal Workplace for Female Employees

To keep this momentum going, many steel companies offer educational training and pilot programs for women in the field. POSCO, especially, is leading efforts to improve policies for supporting female employees and being a family-friendly place to work through its childcare centers, maternity leave benefits and mentoring programs to promote the advancement of women in the workplace.

Even though the proportion of women at POSCO isn’t remarkably high due to the nature of the industry, POSCO has consistently increased the number of its female employees.

One way POSCO is working to increase the number of its female workers is by creating a culture where all employees are given equal opportunities and rewards. Additionally, POSCO’s W-leadership program aims to promote female leaders of the next generation. The program provides lectures on leadership, workshops and opportunities to apply for worksite operation.

POSCO also works to prevent the interruption of female employees’ careers that is sometimes common during childbirth and maternity leave, and helps them plan their careers strategically. In 2011, POSCO introduced a system that guarantees a maximum of two years of maternity leave—twice the legal standard. Also, POSCO operates a system that automatically allows for child care leave following maternity leave, and has recorded a 97 percent employee return rate after adopting this system.

For these efforts, POSCO has been recognized through a number of awards. The company was named one of the “Best Companies to Work For” in Korea’s “100 Happy Companies” list, and is favored as a good workplace for both male and female employees.

If today’s women of steel are anything like those who steadfastly sacrificed their time and effort during World War II, or those who bravely faced discrimination to ensure equitable working conditions for all, the steel industry will most certainly continue to remain in good hands. And, as women continue to advance in the industry, POSCO, too will continue to evolve to help them move forward in their careers.

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