11/11/04

March 3rd, 2004

Robin Lamar, President of the Association for Women in Aviation Maintenance (AWAM), will present her first professional paper to the Anthropology Community at The Society for Applied Anthropology's annual meeting in Dallas, Texas from March 31 to April 4, 2004.  Her topic "Women in the Hangar 2004, A Bird's Eye View”, will be presented under the general topic of Anthropologists at the Margins: Observers and Advocates Part 1.

Ms. Lamar, who has formed a consulting company to assist industry and education with equity issues, as well as recruitment and retention of minorities in the aviation fields, was quoted as saying. "We are at a stage to go beyond 'compliance' and into real productive cooperation".

Her paper at this year's Symposium draws on fifteen years of active work as a line mechanic for a major airline with statistical analysis from AWAM and a perceptive view of the industry as a whole. Combining experiences from the hangar with a career as a speaker and educator, Ms. Lamar may open the way to new public awareness of the hidden intricacies of this unique cultural environment, the aircraft maintenance shop and women working within it.