Her engine, her rules: Bay Area automotive professor urging more women to get under the hood

SAN BRUNO, Calif. (KGO) -- Professor Julia Johnson is a professor of automotive technology at Skyline College in San Bruno. Her career in the car repair industry makes her a trailblazer.

"I wasn't always a mechanic," said Johnson. "But I always wanted to be. I wanted to be the girl under the hood."

Professor Johnson teaches the engine repair and rebuild class and created a certificate program for entry-level technicians. But her journey into this career was anything but traditional.

After college, where she studied international relations, she worked for foreign governments as the administrator of trade for South Korea. She also worked for a number of nonprofits before having kids and becoming a stay-at-home mom.

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"At about the time my youngest was old enough for pre-school, a Skyline catalogue came in the mail," Johnson said. "And when I dropped it on the table, it opened to the auto pages."

She decided she would try it out and started taking weekend classes.

"So I brought my 1964 Ford Galaxy up here and I was like, 'show me what you got!'"

She had always thought that car repair work was too difficult. But after taking classes with an instructor who explained things in ways she could understand, she discovered it was much easier than she thought.

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"If I could do it, anyone can do it," she humbly said.

After graduating, Johnson found work in a number of repair shops, often as the only woman on the staff. And although representation of women in the automotive industry is growing, you're still not likely to see a woman working at your local repair shop.

"Shop owners are discovering how important it is," she said. "And our ladies are in high-demand for the employers, the dealers, the shops around here."

"You don't have to want to work in a shop to take an automotive class," she added. "We have beginner-level classes. Anybody can register for a night class. If young ladies want to come to my class, I personally want to see you in my class, and I would personally like to see them succeed in the industry."

For more information, the Skyline College website here.