Nontraditional Roles | FEATURE law. Joyce Neal worked for Spring Creek Mine for 30 years before retiring in spring 2013. She is the one who convinced Hovey to apply and who served as her role model on how to maneuver in a mostly male-dominated world. “My mother-in-law worked here 30 years,” Hovey said. “I’ll try to make it longer. I will retire here.” Through her years at the mine, Hovey has been promoted from utility helper, to haul truck operator, to blade operator, to dozer operator and most recently to shovel operator. In 2009, she began serving as a fill-in supervisor for her 30-person crew when the normal supervisor was gone. “Paula is a leader not only with her crew, but with our organization,” Media Relations Manager Rick Curtsinger said. Hovey’s advice to any women who think they may want to join a mine crew: “Try it. Go out there and give 100 percent. It’s a wonderful job.” And, for those who were wondering, the mine provides outhouses just for its women, and they’re kept sparkling clean, and it’s really not so bad, Hovey said.
Anne Gunn tests a product from the Sheridan Programmers Guild on her laptop computer in the conference room on East Ridge Road in Sheridan. | photo by Justin Sheely
Software Programmer Computer software engineers who are female: 20.9 percent -Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010 Though technologically and mathe-
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matically based, computer sciences are a good match for female brains that are wired for problem solving and looking at things from multiple angles, software programmer Anne Gunn said. In fact, a 2001 study done by Harvard University found that women typically have a larger frontal lobe, which is responsible for problem solving, and up to 10 times more white matter than men, which offers speedy neurological connections in the brain. (The study noted that neither male nor female brains are “better.” They just work differently while often reaching the same conclusion.) Gunn, who owns Sheridan Programmers Guild, said the lack of women in computer sciences is likely a result of male-centered education and male-centered presentation of what programming is all about. “Computer science education often focuses on the wiz-bang aspect of the technology,” Gunn said. And that typically speaks more to men, as do the standard intro to computer science problems that often use sports team box scores and the like. However, Gunn said, once a woman gets through the education and discovers what programming is really like, they tend to really enjoy it. “At its root, computer science is about solving problems for customers, and women can relate to that,” Gunn said. “Women are interested in what they can make the technology do if it’s something meaningful.” For example, Gunn has developed software for smartphone applications that help emergency responders decode hazardous material (Hazmat) placards to make response efforts more efficient and effective. Gunn has also developed software for nurses, educators, computer-based learning activities and e-book publications. Twenty years ago, Gunn co-founded software company Tally Systems in New England, which was eventually sold to Novell. When she moved to Sheridan, she worked a traditional 40-hour-perweek job as a consultant for 12 years but decided that she’d like to return to the flexibility of owning her own software company, and thus Sheridan Pro-
grammers Guild was born. “Programming is the world’s best mom’s job,” Gunn said. “I don’t understand why that isn’t obvious to more people.” Gunn encourages any woman who likes to learn and communicate and creatively solve problems to look into computer science, ignoring the fact that it may be nontraditional and realizing that it just might be ideal.
Officer Karla Rogers of the Sheridan Police Department. | photo by Justin Sheely
Police Officer Police patrol officers who are female: 13 percent -Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010 “If you’re thinking about switching careers, you have cop written all over you,” her friend told her after a class they took to obtain concealed carry permits. Funny thing is, Karla Rogers took that concealed carry class because she was terrified of guns. “But the idea stuck in my brain,” Rogers said. She was working as a property manager in Greeley, Colo., at the time but soon enrolled in Greeley’s police academy. Ten months later — five months of bookwork on statutes and case law, and five months of technical, job-like training — Rogers knew she’d found her career. “There was no big traumatic experience in my life, no police officers in my family line,” Rogers said. “Curiosity