Not Your Ordinary Millwright: PASAR’s Female Millwright shares her success story

Operating heavy machinery and working with men in a copper smelter and refinery plant might not be every girl’s dream but for Ella Marie Ruta, it is a dream come true. With a lot of effort, a positive mindset, and years of training under the PASAR Tradesmen Training Program (PTTP), Ella became one of the female millwrights in PASAR.

Ella Marie started her job as a probationary employee on August 15, 2022 under the Acid Plant Mechanical Team, after being trained in different areas and teams during her apprenticeship. She is thankful to PTTP because through it she became a part of PASAR’s workforce. “Malipayon ug mapasalamaton ko nga parte nako sa workforce sa PASAR, mapasalamaton pud ko sa PTTP nga ila ko’ng gibansay pamaagi sa pagtraining ug pagdeploy nako on-site, tungod sa akong nakat-onan, nakab-ut nako ang usa sa akong mga pangandoy nga mamahimong millwright.”

Ella Marie, saw the position as a challenge to excel at her job despite being a woman in a male-dominated field. She also admitted that it is not a common career path for women and stress can be quite overt like when women feel that their contributions are less valued than their male peers because tasks and roles have been gendered. “Kay lagi, di daw ka-alsa og bug-at kay babae,” she shared. Having women leaders motivated her to prove to others that women can also do what men can and that she is worthy of the position that the company has entrusted her with.

Moreover, twenty-one-year-old Ella Marie is the breadwinner of her family. She is now supporting her younger sibling, who is a 2nd-year college student. “Dako jud kaayo og impact sa among pamilya, [sa among status] karon, makapaskuyla na gyud ko sa akong manghod [kay] wa na mi ginikanan, nya ako ra ang nagbuhi sa akong mga igsuon,” she imparted.

Ella Marie assured that she and her team members will uphold the safety culture of the company. “Ang first gyud namo nga buhaton kay mag conduct ug PCOM kada sugod sa among activities una nya i-assess ang area, kitaon kung safe and secure mi sa among mga area nga gitrabahuan para confident mi nga mu perform sa among mga trabahuon,” Ruta shared.

To contribute more to the company, Ella Marie pledged to work hard and apply the lessons learned from her training to step up her career in order to uphold quality in her field of work, “If you put a lot of effort into your work and have faith in what you do, you will eventually achieve success.”

As more women rise in the firm, they are breaking down barriers and demonstrating to others that engineers and millwrights of any gender can be achievers.