How women are changing San Antonio's funeral industry
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When Mary Mena began her career as a funeral home director more than 30 years ago, her male intern was often assumed to be in charge — a sign of the times for a field in which women are now taking the lead nationally and locally.
Why it matters: As women rise to leadership roles in funeral homes, they're dismantling stereotypes and transforming an industry that once excluded them.
By the numbers: In 2007, women represented 40% of mortuary science students nationwide. By 2019, that figure had surged to 72%, according to the National Funeral Directors Association.
Zoom in: At San Antonio College, the trend is even more pronounced — all 33 graduates of the 2023-2024 mortuary science program were women, Mena, department chair for allied health at SAC, tells Axios.
- She says about 93% of the program's 348 students are women, which has been a typical rate for at least the last decade.
- "When I graduated from this program over 30 years ago, I can tell you that there were a handful of females (in the industry) in San Antonio," Mena says. "When you envisioned a funeral director (back then), I think most people envisioned a male."
Context: In the 18th and 19th centuries, women played major roles in death care, including watching over the dying and laying out their bodies.
- But that shifted when embalming became the norm and death care became more formalized.
- "Originally, women were the caregivers. When someone died in the home, it was primarily the women who covered the deceased, who rolled the towel under the chin to close the mouth, who positioned the body," Mena says.
- "But when that became seen as a profession, automatically the males took over."
Reality check: In San Antonio, funeral home managers earn an average of $63,610 annually, according to May 2023 data from the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics.
- That was considered a comfortable living for a single person without children that year, according to SmartAsset, but falls short of what was needed in 2024.
Flashback: SAC opened a public-facing mortuary in February 2024. It is the first of its kind on a college campus in the nation.
- While only one funeral has been held there, mortuary students interact with families and provide other services in a real-world setting under the guidance of licensed funeral directors.
- Before it opened, students would gain experience at internships at mortuaries.
What we're watching: Mena says there's increasing demand for bilingual funeral directors who can offer culturally sensitive services to Spanish-speaking families.