The Women of General Motors

Based on interview with more than 100 current and former female GM employees, discusses the role women have played in the American auto industry, a traditionally male-dominated industry.

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Based on interview with more than 100 current and former female GM employees,  discusses the role women have played in the American auto industry, a traditionally male-dominated industry.



An authoritative guide to the role women have played in the automotive world for the past century. Since the early days of General Motors, there have been women—known and unknown—who have had vital roles in design, engineering, manufacturing, and administration. In this follow-up to Damsels in Design, her book on women automotive designers from 1939-1959, Constance Smith presents profiles of and interviews with more than 100 women who have steered the course of General Motors for almost 100 years. The women featured include:




Bonnie Lemm, the first woman designer-engineer at GM
Helene Rother, the first woman automobile and transportation designer hired by GM's Styling Department in the 1940s
Suzanne Vanderbilt, the holder of numerous industrial design patents and the designer of the first adjustable lumbar seat supports
Mary Barra, who became GM's chair and CEO in 2016


Readers will meet these remarkable achievers and discover how they took on a male-dominated industry—and triumphed.