CHICAGO, Ill. — A career in transportation is more than driving a truck or piloting an airplane, says Kim Swords, who lives and works 60 miles southwest of Chicago – long identified as the transportation hub of America.

"Sometimes I think we tend to think too narrowly about careers in the field of transportation," noted Swords, guidance counselor at Ottawa Township High School in LaSalle County. "We don’t think outside the box. We think, ‘I’m going to be a truck driver’ or ‘I’m going to fly a plane,’ but I’m sure there are thousands of careers that are interrelated."

Careers in transportation are open to gals as well as guys, notes Marcia Ferranto, international president and CEO of Women’s Transportation Society (WTS), a 5,000-member worldwide organization founded in 1977 and dedicated to the professional advancement of women and men in transportation. The big hurdle is young people not knowing these careers exist.

"When you’re growing up, you really only know the careers that you get exposed to," said Chris Jackson, a guidance counselor at Seneca Township High School in LaSalle and Grundy counties. "You know teachers and principals and doctors and lawyers and policemen. You meet others – the standard ones.

"But there’s so many careers out there that people don’t know about. If they don’t get exposed to it, they’re possibly not going to find a career that really was meant for them."

Both counselors agree lack of information is a problem in the career transportation field. Neither the Seneca nor Ottawa schools offer students information and guidance in transportation as a career choice. Both note, however, that their schools do run a close second with the availability and popularity of classes in engineering.

"It’s difficult to say whether any girls at Ottawa High have shown interest in transportation as a career, but there are lots of girls interested in engineering and related fields that way," Swords said.

"I don’t know if they’re familiar with specific careers in transportation or even thought to look into that or pursue it. Until I talked to Farm World right now, I wasn’t too familiar with careers in transportation other than what you would typically think of, and that is, driving a truck."

If information on specific careers in transportation was made available, there might be some interest at the school and community, Swords noted.

"If someone approached me to start a chapter of WTS here, I would certainly be open to hearing more about it, or at least connecting them with someone who could assist them better at that," she said.

Jackson noted LaSalle, Grundy and Will counties are kind of in the crossroads of America where there are distribution centers popping up left and right along Interstate 80. "So, there are a lot of transportation things in that regard," he said. "Students probably aren’t thinking of that. When they hear that kind of stuff, they are going to think (truck drivers).

"I’d like to show students and young women there’s a whole lot more out there than just truck driving. (The WTS) is a good thing. Will it bring them all in? No. But It could interest a few of them, and that’s great if it does."

Jackson said he would appreciate obtaining more information on transportation as a career choice.

The WTS helps women find opportunity and recognition in the transportation industry. Through its professional activities, networking opportunities and unparalleled access to industry and government leaders, WTS is turning the glass ceiling into a career portal, Ferranto stated in a news release.

In 2011, the WTS and U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) created Transportation YOU, a mentorship program to build awareness of transportation-related careers to 13- to 18-year-old girls. By way of the program, WTS chapters offer events and activities to alert their interest in all modes of transportation and encourage them to take courses in math, science and technology.

"These are all stepping stones to exciting careers that can change the face of the transportation industry," the WTS stated. Of the 52 current chapters nationwide, about 70 percent have created Transportation YOU programs.

When 2012 rolled around, WTS and DOT added a five-day annual D.C. Youth Summit in the nation’s capital for girls to gain more exposure and learning experience with transportation issues on a national level. The 2014 summit included a tour of DOT’s Crisis Management Center, meetings with some of the agency’s female executives and a trip to the Federal Aviation Administration’s Command Center.

Looking forward, Youth Summit applications are available to all the nation’s WTS chapters on a first-come, first-served basis. For additional information on the summit and about WTS, Ferranto may be emailed at mferranto@wtsinternational.org

In addition, the Greater Chicago WTS Chapter is sponsoring this year’s annual networking conference May 20-22 at the Swissotel. Private corporations, public agencies and government officials in every transportation mode will exhibit, present, learn and network at the event.

For additional information on the annual networking conference, DC Youth Summit and the WTS, email Ferranto, or Tiffany Jackson, WTS director of Membership & Chapter Development, at tjackson@wtsinternational.org