The startup Free-D is helping human trafficking victims and underprivileged women in India obtain careers by teaching them 3D printing and design skills. The first nine-month pilot program is taking place in Mumbai, and will provide 10 women with extensive 3D printing training.
Despite the technological and societal progress that humanity has made over time, millions of unfortunate human beings remain trapped under the despicable hand of human traffickers. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), there are 24.9 million people in the world that suffer from modern-day slavery. Of that disgustingly large number, 71 percent of these human trafficking victims are women and girls.
Without proper access to education, many of these underprivileged women lack job opportunities, which increases the risk of falling prey to human traffickers. But one startup is aiming to empower these victims and other disadvantaged females by teaching valuable skills that will help them gain a better career and overall life.
Free-D wants to offer 3D printing training workshops to vulnerable women from all walks of life, including human trafficking survivors, as well as victims of domestic violence or homelessness. Founded in 2016 by Katherine Prescott and Siavash Mahdavi, the startup aims to provide skills training and job opportunities to help pull women out of slavery and poverty.
“They don’t have a high level of skill or literacy skills, which means that job opportunities are really low, and it’s through the search of trying to find employment that many get taken advantage of,” Prescott recently told Forbes, describing the obstacles that keep underserved females from escaping their awful circumstances.
Siavash Mahdavi (L) and Katherine Prescott (R), founders of Free-D.
Free-D Aims to Help Underprivileged Indian Women Escape Modern-Day Slavery
Originally started in London, the company is now heading to the Vodafone Institute’s Berlin-based female empowerment business accelerator F-Lane.
Although they plan to expand the initiative globally, Free-D is starting off in India, a country where 14 million women currently live in slavery. Last year, the startup partnered with the Indian NGO Kshamata and Imaginarium, which is the largest 3D printing company in the country, to offer a series of one-to-three day workshops.
Since then, Free-D has launched an extensive pilot program in Mumbai. The nine-month workshop will provide 10 underprivileged women with 3D printing training and psychological support. At the end of the program, the women will start internship positions with Imaginarium.
Mahdavi is currently self-funding the company and pilot program with around £100,000 ($144,000), but will attempt to raise an additional £500,000 ($718,000) to help scale the business on a global level. Once the business is established, Free-D plans to obtain revenue from companies that are supporting the training of their future employees. Depending on the geographical location of future workshops, Prescott believes they can develop programs that utilize a “buy-one-fund-one model” to potential partners.
By providing 3D printing education to disadvantaged females, Free-D hopes to empower the millions of human trafficking victims that are suffering across the world. In doing so, the company will also be adding resilient and deserving women to the additive manufacturing workforce.
A new quarterly report from the organization Women in 3D Printing takes an in-depth look at diversity in additive manufacturing, focusing on the employment distribution between genders, the different perceptions on professional opportunity, and the views of women who are pioneering the industry.
We’ve all seen the various reports that boldly predict the future growth of the additive manufacturing market, but it’s not too often that we take a deep look at the inner workings of industry. This is especially true when it comes to diversity in the 3D printing workplace, which, like many other manufacturing sectors, is predominantly made up of men.
A new quarterly report produced by the organization Women in 3D Printing presents a multi-faceted view at diversity within the additive manufacturing workplace. Entitled “Diversity For Additive Manufacturing: First Quarter 2018 Report”, the study is “a resource for understanding the shape and scope of diversity in the 3D printing industry”. It was authored by Sarah Goehrke, Editor-in-Chief of 3DPrint.com; and presented by Nora Touré, Founder of Women in 3D Printing and General Manager at Sculpteo.
The study presents a data-driven examination of diversity in the additive manufacturing sector, as well as subjective discussion that showcases the unfiltered perspective of women in the industry.
A Data-Driven Discussion on Gender Diversity in Additive Manufacturing
After a brief introduction to the state of additive manufacturing as a whole, the report takes a deep, data-driven dive into gender diversity within the industry. The author presents the issues involving diversity (or lack thereof) right at the outset of the report.
“Objectively, the additive manufacturing industry is growing, comprising a more than $6 billion industry. At one estimate, the workforce is made up of 87% male employees and 13% female employees. Public companies’ executive leadership structures can be observed to be made up of a majority male management structure,” Goehrke writes.
Before showcasing the direct impact this imbalance has on the additive manufacturing sector, the study presents statistics that focus on a bigger picture. The author sources a recent study from Northwestern University that suggests that career perceptions are changing among younger generations. A 2016 LinkedIn survey is also quoted within the text, which found that 23% of employees in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) were female.
Although this sourced research indicates significant growth for women in tech, other studies shine a glaring light on the problems that women in tech constantly face. For instance, the 2017 McKinsey Women in the Workplace study shows that women are significantly underrepresented in automotive and industrial manufacturing.
As for the 3D printing industry, the report turns to a recent salary survey published by Alexander Daniels Global, which is a UK specialist recruitment company that works in the additive manufacturing field. Looking at every professional aspect across the regions of North America, EMEA, and Asia Pacific, the survey found that a whopping 87 percent of employees are male, while just 13 percent are female.
The report digs even deeper into this data, providing a breakdown of the different jobs women hold in the 3D printing industry. The survey found that 29 percent of women in 3D printing worked in marketing, followed by 16 percent in sales, and 14 percent in application and consulting.
Another aspect that the quarterly report looks at is the public employment records of Stratasys and 3D System, two of the largest additive manufacturing companies. In regard to executive positions, the study found that only two of the eleven reported directors and senior management positions at Stratasys are held by women. Out of the five executive officer positions at 3D Systems, none of them are held by a female employee.
Nora Touré, Founder of Women in 3D Printing and General Manager at Sculpteo.
A Personal Perspective of Women in the 3D Printing Industry
After presenting these telling statistics, the quarterly report takes a subjective approach on the subject, as the author herself is a prominent female figure within the 3D printing media scene. Goehrke talks about her own perspective as a woman working in the field of additive manufacturing, explaining certain experiences and epiphanies that transpired at various trade shows. At one point, the author shares a realization she had at CES 2018 in Las Vegas.
“At CES 2018, shortly after the dawn of this new year, thousands gathered in the desert for the neon spectacle that is the massive consumer electronics show. This year was my second time attending, and it seemed to me, primarily focused in as I was on the 3D Printing Zone, that more women were present in 2018 than I had seen in 2017. I took great heart from this — and then noticed an anomaly. Any woman can tell you that in a packed public space, be it an opera house or a baseball stadium, there are always lines for the bathroom. Queuing here is often a built-in part of any experience, and is less a surprising aspect of these events than an exasperating one. At CES, the line out the men’s room door wrapped around a corner in one crowded hallway between event halls; I walked straight into the ladies’ room, no queuing required. Realizing this had me look again at the makeup of attendees; while through efforts such as Women in 3D Printing it becomes clear that there are a significant number of women working in tech today — much of the visibility is clear to those inclined to look. Because I was looking for women in the crowd, I saw them. In absolute numbers, though, women still comprised a significant minority of the total attendance,” Goehrke states in the report.
Utilizing more than 100 interviews conducted by the Women in 3D Printing organization, the report also shares statements from some of the most accomplished females working in the additive manufacturing sphere. The study focuses on a number of questions, including what the subjects think of the 3D printing industry today, the challenges they’ve faced as women in STEM, and how to encourage more women to get involved with 3D printing.
At the end, the report offers a conclusion packed with actionable steps towards making the industry a more diverse space. Goehrke writes:
“Actionable steps toward evening the field of employment include establishing relationships with mentors, visibility of role models, and encouraging educational and training initiatives. Through sharing the stories of industry participants, visibility of experience is rising, positioning the next generations of the workforce to enter a more level field and creating a more complex, rich industry built upon wider-reaching creative problem solving, inventive approaches, and breadth of resources.”
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