Another glass ceiling is breaking as four women become the first to graduate from the Lineman Institute of the Northeast.

They’re joining a small group of women working in the male-dominated field of electrical line work.

“I wanted to be a linemen because I love working outdoors. I love heights and like adrenaline rushes, which you definitely get that from a climbing aspect,” says student Simone Monette.

For the past 15 weeks, Monette, Chloe Nadon, Alexandria Jerro-Greco and Megan Russin have gone toe-to-toe with their male classmates, completing the institute’s pre-apprentice lineworker program.

What You Need To Know

  • The Linemen Institute of the Northeast will graduate its first group of women

  • The four women worked toe-to-toe with their male counterparts to complete the needed certification to become a linemen apprentice

  • The ladies learned how to climb a utility pole using only a pair of spikes, ropes and a harness

They learned a variety of skills, including how to climb utility poles with a pair of spikes, ropes and a harness.

While the ladies make the task look easy, Nadon says it was a little difficult at first. She says climbing over cross arms on a pole was the hardest thing to learn.

“I didn't know if I could step fully up onto the top of it. But now that I know that I can, I've learned it and now I can do it no problem,” says Nadon.

And as challenging as the work may be, the group is encouraging other women to go into the trade.

“I mean, it was tough, knowing that we're going into a male-dominated field, but you know, it's the twentieth century, there's no saying what can or can't be done. We're kind of breaking that boundary and I wish more women would do it. It's hard work, but you can do just about anything,’’ says Jerro-Greco.

While they are breaking the mold of what a lineman looks like, school administrators say it’s not easy to get other women interested in the program.

“For the most part, not just our school, but in the trade in general, just because it is so male-dominated, so it's kind of intimidating,” says Communications Coordinator Brinnah Leiching. “It takes a special kind of person to be able to do it, anybody, male or female.”

The ladies will be graduating Saturday with their fellow classmates and a lineman rodeo celebration.