In the restaurant industry, where women make up 63% of entry level positions but 34% of the leadership, it’s good to see a local effort to try to make a difference.

For the second time this year, Dallas College will offer its Women in Restaurants Leadership Program. As our colleague Imelda García recently reported, this is an eight-week, tuition-free course that partners with several local restaurants such as Beatrice and Zen Sushi to give students hands-on experience in both the front and back of a restaurant. And while the program focuses on training women, all individuals who are interested in restaurant leadership are invited to register for the course.

That’s an appreciated nod to the need to provide help to all seekers. But recognizing that women are underrepresented in restaurant leadership and then helping them get a leg up is wise. Restaurants have an unfortunate history of being boys’ clubs, especially in the kitchen. More balance in the leadership ranks is needed to shift that narrative.

Steve DeShazo, the senior director of Workforce Initiatives at Dallas College, told us that this experience is valuable to students who want to own their own culinary business in the future. For many, this program provides mentorship, connections and guidance they need in their careers, DeShazo said.

The first course was offered in spring, and the results were telling. One hundred percent of students said they would recommend the course to another student, DeShazo said. Another metric of the course’s success was job placement, with several restaurants hiring students from the class.

We’ve been bullish on community college providing the necessary skills training to get young people, and not-so-young people, launched into careers without taking on the debt and time that some don’t have to devote to a four-year degree.

And seeing a program that builds opportunities for women to become industry leaders is a step toward greater equality that will benefit all of society.

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