Breaking the Mold: Female Students Redefine Roles in Motorsports
Published: Dec 28, 2025
James Colin
Writer
Women at Jayhawk Motorsports are taking on leadership roles and technical challenges in a space traditionally dominated by men. From managing budgets to working on engines, they’re reshaping expectations — and creating new paths for future female engineers.
Engineering remains a male-dominated profession — and Jayhawk Motorsports is no exception. The student racing team is largely made up of men, but a small group of women is working steadily to shift that balance.
Though few in number, these women continue to assert their place on the team, challenging assumptions and reshaping perceptions of who belongs in motorsports engineering.
Jayhawk Motorsports has earned a strong reputation in Formula SAE, an international collegiate competition where students design, build, and race small-scale cars. Since its founding in 1994 by six University of Kansas mechanical engineering students, the team has grown considerably.
Today, the program builds a combustion-powered race car and includes more than 40 students representing fields such as business, industrial design, computer science, and multiple engineering disciplines. Members gain hands-on experience in design, collaboration, and project management — translating classroom concepts into real-world performance.
Women on the team hold themselves and one another to high standards, pushing back against traditional gender expectations instead of accepting them.
One of them is business lead Katie Kraiss, whose interest in cars developed early through her father and grandfather. She said people are often surprised by her knowledge of vehicles simply because she’s a woman.
“Working with 90% of the team being male engineers as a female business student, I’ll just always be slightly intimidated by them I will say,” Kraiss said.
Volunteer lead Hailey Bollini, who oversees non-senior members, echoed similar experiences. She said she has faced situations where she was more informed than some male teammates, yet still felt underestimated.
“You kinda have to make yourself bigger and scarier, and then people kinda take you seriously,” Bollini said. “There’s emotional labor in that, putting on a persona.”
Despite these hurdles, the women of Jayhawk Motorsports continue to take on critical roles — from working on engines to managing finances and directing projects. Their contributions help drive the team’s success while opening doors for future women in engineering and business.
As the team prepares for its next Formula SAE competition, these women remain focused on proving their capabilities and challenging the barriers that persist in the field.
