Women in the Woods is increasing Female Participation in the Forestry Profession via Mentorship, Community Outreach, and Experiential Learning at Louisiana Tech.

Based on a survey by Larasatie et al. (2020), female college students with forestry-related leadership experience argued women do not want consider forestry as a possible profession because they do not see other woman in this field of STEM. They commented young women often perceive foresters as chainsaw-wielding people “with big bushy beards” who “chop down trees” or “fight forest fires.”

Experiential learning from female foresters, as well as the development of professional relationships with these women, will combat this stereotype and encourage future generations of women to also become foresters. As one respondent from Larasatie et al. (2020) said, it is important to have “strong and competent female role models who show that it’s okay to be a woman in science.”

Read Larasatie et al. (2020)

This epitomizes the goal of the Women in the Woods program: bring together young women and professional female foresters to learn and network with one another to increase female interest and participation in forestry.