Women the focus of new ag course

Women in the agricultural field will get a spotlight at Flathead Valley Community College starting this fall when the school introduces a new course to its agriculture program.

Entitled “Women in the Agricultural Workforce in the 21st Century,” the course, taught by Agriculture Program Director Heather Estrada, will highlight different career paths within the field while addressing both historic and future roles of women in agriculture.

“We just want to make sure that we keep having women come into the workforce and that we can make them successful in the workforce,” Estrada said. “Part of making women successful in the workforce is making sure that there are other people that they can kind of look up to as mentors.”

Open to all degree-seeking FVCC students, the two-credit online course covers agricultural research, education/extension, marketing, administration and production while providing students with opportunities to connect with women currently working in the field across the state.

The course is funded by a $94,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture, which covers 60 percent of tuition costs for students enrolled in the class as well as 10 internships for exemplary students who complete the course.

Estrada will co-teach the course with two Montana State University professors, Jane Mangold and Lisa Rew, as part of the collaborative effort to bring agriculture students across the state together for a new type of field focus.

According to Estrada, both male and female students as well as field professionals have begun to show interest in the course, and several agriculturists across the state have signed up to be internship providers.

The class will combine video interviews with some of those agriculturists with hands-on exercises and experience that will help connect students to their field and the women who could potentially define or advance their careers.

“I think it’s just good to create that network and that visibility and that mentoring model so that women who are just entering the industry have people they can look to if they have questions and to just relate to,” Estrada said. “I think a really important part of this project is just increasing that awareness of the career paths that are available and letting people know that there are in fact jobs in agriculture at any degree level.”

The USDA grant paid for the course and internships to continue through 2020, but Estrada said she hopes the college will continue to offer the course as long as students continue to show interest.

The class will be offered fall 2018 and spring 2019, offering students two chances to complete the course before internship opportunities become available.

Each class holds up to 30 students, male or female, of any major, but will appeal most to science and agriculture students.

No prerequisites are required to enroll but students must first be accepted to FVCC before enrolling in the course.

The fall enrollment deadline for FVCC is Aug. 22.

For more information, visit www.montana.edu/empowering-women-in-ag/index.html or contact Estrada at hestrada@fvcc.edu.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.