# Shattering Glass Ceilings: Women Executives in Manufacturing and Technology

Published 2023-04-04 · Updated 2026-06-09 · Education Technology on MarketScale
Canonical: https://www.marketscale.com/industries/education-technology/shattering-glass-ceilings-women-executives-in-manufacturing-and-technology
Creator hub: DisruptED

> In a 2019 Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute survey, more than 70% of women participants indicated underrepresentation of women in their company’s leadership teams. There is a need for women executives in manufacturing and technology. Now is a prime opportunity for women executives to rise in advanced manufacturing because U.S. manufacturers are facing a…

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 In a [2019 Deloitte](https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/energy-and-resources/articles/women-in-manufacturing-industrial-products-and-services.html) and the Manufacturing Institute survey, [more than 70%](https://www.influentialwomeninmanufacturing.com/) of women participants indicated underrepresentation of women in their company’s leadership teams. There is a need for women executives in manufacturing and technology. Now is a prime opportunity for women executives to rise in advanced manufacturing because U.S. manufacturers are facing a projected shortfall of 2.5 million workers by 2025.

Women participation in manufacturing has grown from [3% to 30%](https://marketscale.com/industries/original-series/dig-your-heels-in/a-working-womans-series-with-allison-grealis/) over the past ten years. That’s good news, but it could be even greater.

On this episode of [DisruptED](https://marketscale.com/shows/disrupted/), host [Ron J. Stefanski](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronjstefanski/) introduced a new guest host to the program. [Kelly Ireland](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cbt-kelly/), the IoT Community’s 2022 Woman of the Year. Ireland, the Founder & CEO of [CBT](https://www.cbtechinc.com/). Ireland and Stefanski previously discussed the evolving role of women in the technology space in a [previous episode](https://marketscale.com/industries/education-technology/barriers-to-women-in-tech-spaces-and-how-to-break-them/). As a leader in the tech community and a representative of the women executives in manufacturing and technology, Ireland was excited to bring on another leader representing all the glass ceiling breakers out there with a high “GSD index.” [Ahlam Alqudah Qaimari](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahlam/), the General Manager at [Griffin Glass & Metal Werks](https://www.griffin-glassandmetal.com/). Qaimari’s journey is a global one, and she got to share those experiences and insights with Stefanski and Ireland. “I give high credit to my mom, a teacher for thirty-four years,” Qaimari said. “My mom, she’s a math and science teacher. For all my siblings and me, math is not a choice. It’s something the first thing we learn in our life. That’s why, when I was in school, that was the easiest subject. I never had to put a lot of effort in because she (my mom) fed me how important math and language were for our lives to be strong.”

### Stefanski, Ireland, and Qaimari discuss women executives in manufacturing…

● The challenges faced by a woman in tech who originated from outside the United States

● Managing a career, extended education, and a family as a woman leader in tech

● What Griffin Glass & Metal Werks is doing with digital transformation

“We are a fabricator, and we work in the manufacturing industry and fabricator for glass and metal,” Qaimari said. “We use high-end technology inside the company between the machines and the programs. We create our own programs. With one click, we have one program that switches from sheet paper to a CAD drawing, where we send it to a machine to read it and convert it to give the machine orders to start running and cutting the piece of glass or to cut the metal.”

#### About Ahlam

Ahlam Alqudah Qaimari is an accomplished Industrial Engineering leader with a strong track record of improving organizations without adding costs in various global firms. Qaimari possesses experience leading engineering teams in a manufacturing setting. Qaimari holds a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Northern Illinois University.

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