Though she’s pursuing an associate degree at North Idaho College, Coeur d’Alene resident Alexis Dixon said she’s not sure what her future career path will look like. 

She got some ideas Wednesday night at the Parker Technical Education Center in Rathdrum, where she attended Women at Work, NIC’s woman-focused career technical education event. Dozens of women and even a few men gathered to learn about NIC’s offerings and talk to local women who work in CTE fields.

“It’s cool to hear about the different options there are for two-year certificates,” Dixon said. 

Dixon said she’s always had an interest in the paralegal field and was glad to learn that NIC has a paralegal program. 

“It helps to talk to people who are in the field and have experience,” she said. 

That kind of connection is exactly what Women at Work is meant to foster, according to Elli Michael, marketing and events coordinator for NIC. 

“Women at Work was designed to introduce the community to CTE,” she said. 

Since its inception in 2024, Michael said the event has grown, with more vendors and programming each year. 

Brittany Selle is a special populations case manager at NIC’s Center for New Directions, helps single parents, displaced homemakers and career pioneers as they pursue their education. She said many of the women who are receiving services from the center are enrolled in career and technical education programs at NIC. 

“These are in-demand fields,” she said.  

These women are preparing to enter or reenter the workforce with skills that will empower them to support themselves and their families, Selle said. 

“It’s really amazing to see women step into fields that are dominated by men and build that confidence,” she said. 

Idaho women represented a higher share of certificate degree completions in 2023-2024 compared with the national average, according to The National Center for Economic Statistics. 

Tiffany Mitchell, a student recruiter for the Workforce Training Center, said those numbers give events like Women at Work another level of significance. 

“It’s about encouraging women to explore CTE and celebrating that they’re already in those fields,” she said. 

Mitchell said an important part of her role is sharing with the community the many educational and career options that are available right here in North Idaho. 

“All things are possible if you want to do them,” she said. “There’s a team of people to support you.” 

    Post Falls Police Department employees were among the representatives from various local career and technical education fields who met with community members during North Idaho College's Women at Work event.