How women at TSTC help shape student success

(HUTTO, Texas) – Charli Wright wants the next generation of women welders to walk into the industry with confidence. Once one of the few women in a male-dominated field, she now helps students believe in their skills and their place in the trade.

Wright entered almost on a whim. She initially took welding to support a friend who enrolled because her boyfriend was taking the class. That decision changed the course of Wright’s future.

Wright, a welding instructor at Texas State Technical College’s Williamson County campus in Hutto, entered the industry in the 1980s. While the fundamentals of welding have stayed the same, the culture surrounding the trade has changed significantly.

“You were like a unicorn walking in because they’d never seen a woman before in welding,” Wright said.

At the time, Wright was focused on making a living. She got dressed, went to work and did her job. It was not about breaking barriers, and she did not spend much time thinking about when her own confidence began to grow. Over time, though, she realized it came through experience.

“I was working for a huge tool company, and we were building offshore oil equipment and stuff, and it was a pretty high-pressure, high-production shop,” Wright said. “I started getting pulled off and moved onto jobs that really needed to get done and really needed to get done right.”

Becoming an instructor was never part of the plan, but a friend encouraged Wright to apply. After receiving an interview and an offer, she knew it was the right decision.

“It’s great to be looked at as someone that has a lot of knowledge to offer,” Wright said.

Now, she wants to inspire the next generation of welders, especially women who may doubt they belong in the industry.

“You step in there with your chin held high, and you kill it,” Wright said. “You use the skills you learned here, build your confidence and go out there and get that job.”

Wright has already seen that confidence take root in her students. She recalled one woman who entered the program with no welding experience after working in the medical field. The student struggled at first, but over time began helping classmates and building belief in her abilities. After graduation, she called Wright to share that she had landed a job in a welding shop and was thriving in the field.

“Miss Charli, guess what? I got a job. I’m working in a shop, and I’m loving this,” Wright said.

Wright’s story is one example of how women across TSTC’s Williamson County campus are helping students find confidence and direction.

Mariann Burris, the enrollment lead on the Williamson County campus, is one of the women helping students take that first step. Though she joined TSTC recently, her connection to technical education goes back much further.

Her father worked in HVAC, and Burris remembers hot Texas summers when he was out serving the community while her own family waited for their turn.

“There were literally a couple of summers where we had to go stay at my grandparents’ because our AC went out, but he was running calls,” Burris said.

That experience gave Burris an early respect for the trades. Another influence at home shaped the kind of leader she wanted to become. Burris’ grandmother, Junell Pogue, was an accomplished professional who became DeSoto’s first city secretary and later served as the Dallas County tax assessor-collector in the 1980s.

Burris said her admiration for her grandmother has only grown with time. She keeps items around her office with Pogue’s name on them as a reminder of the example she set.

“As I’m getting older in my professional life and then finding these things and reflecting on her professional life, I’m like, that is who I would want to imitate,” Burris said.

Now, Burris wants to pass that same confidence on to future students, especially young women considering careers in technical fields.

“Don’t let the fact that it might be mostly male-dominated keep you from it,” Burris said. “Just get in there, show them how it’s done.”

Support continues after students arrive on campus. Kadie Cornelius, a program advisor based at TSTC’s Williamson County campus who serves multiple campuses, said part of her role is making sure students feel heard and understood as they work toward their goals.

For Cornelius, that support often comes in day-to-day moments when students need reassurance, encouragement or a reminder that setbacks are part of learning.

Cornelius said that support often means reminding students that mistakes are part of the learning process, especially for women who may struggle with impostor syndrome.

“One mistake in the lab does not define you,” Cornelius said. “It’s that you pick yourself up and you keep going.”

Cornelius said the sky is the limit for women and that young women considering technical careers should not be afraid to jump in.

During Women’s History Month, their stories reflect the many ways women at TSTC help students take that first step, build confidence and keep moving forward in technical education and beyond.

Registration for the summer and fall semesters at TSTC begins Monday, March 30.