Kathryn Clark, a tan 20-year-old blond
wearing jean shorts, a white T-shirt and flip-flops looks ready to enjoy a
sunny day on Jayhawk Boulevard. When the sky darkens and a storm rolls in,
though, that's when she really gets excited. Ever since she was a sophomore in
high school, the Dallas junior and her dad have gone out in his Yukon SUV
chasing tornadoes just for fun.
"It's an adrenaline rush," said Clark, an
atmospheric science major, and one of a growing number of women going into
broadcast meteorology.
At The University of Kansas there has
been a rise in the number of women taking meteorology classes.
Donna Tucker, associate professor of
atmospheric science at KU, said that this is the first semester in 15 years of
teaching a senior weather analysis and forecasting class that there is an equal
number of male to female students. Previously the class had always been
male-dominated.
Nationally, the number of women in broadcast
meteorology is on the rise. Of its 980 members in 2008, some 24 percent are now
women, according to the National Weather Association. It's up from 21 percent
in 2006.
Although more women are going into the
field, there is still a disproportionate amount of men to women.
The American Meteorological Society, in
2005, reported that only 19 percent of its 545 members in broadcast meteorology
were women.
"When I was a youngster, myself, all I
ever saw were men in the profession," said Erin Little, a broadcast
meteorologist at KMBC-TV in Kansas City. "Now in any station across the country
you see women in the field."
"Those that have a passion for it are
realizing it's not just a man's profession," she said
Katie Horner, chief meteorologist at KCTV
5 in Kansas City said part of the reason more women are getting into the field
is because there is no longer a stigma on women meteorologists.
"In the past, women were looked at as
weather bunnies," she said. "Now, women have improved their image by obtaining
degrees in meteorology proving they are just as smart as their male
counterparts."
Both women and men are likely to have
trouble finding jobs in the field when they graduate though.
Tucker said that there are jobs available
for only about 10 percent of graduates.
For
2008-2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects opportunities for
broadcast meteorologists to be rare and highly competitive.
"It's too bad because there's so many who
want to go into it," Tucker said.
The lack of jobs is affecting salaries,
driving them lower.
"There are so many people to choose from
now," Horner said.
Mark Reynolds, chief meteorologist of
WJHL-TV in Johnson City, Tenn. conducts annual salary surveys of broadcast
meteorologists across the country.
"Salaries in general are going down.
Stations are cutting back," he said.
Perks that used to come with the job are
also disappearing, he said. According to Reynolds' surveys - which gathered
information from more than 150 broadcast meteorologists in 210 markets - in
2006 news stations paid for 66 percent of meteorologists' haircuts, but only 61
percent in 2008. As well, stations
that paid for yearly gym memberships decreased from 19 percent in 2006 to 11
percent in 2008.
Even so, Clark said she's not worried
about finding a job. She's looking into learning Spanish because there are only
about three or four Spanish speaking broadcast meteorologists in the country.
No matter what happens with a job though,
she can always chase those tornadoes.
"I love all of it, all the good stuff,"
she said.
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