Women need the trades and the trades need women

Life-changing. Transformative. Empowering. That’s the way many graduates would describe their experience in the CNC Industrial Mechanic Millwright Pre-Apprenticeship Program at Women’s Enterprise Skills Training (WEST) in Windsor, Ont.

The program equips women living on low or no incomes with the skills, experience, and support they need to enter the trades.

A woman might come to the program from a precarious $14-per-hour minimum-wage retail job and leave with the ability to earn a starting rate of $16 to $20 per hour, building to $40 per hour later in her career. While such programs are opening new doors to these relatively high-paying, high-demand career paths, the gender gap in the trades is vast.

The trades hold promise for increasing women’s economic security in Canada as, according to Angus Reid, women are more vulnerable to poverty. In fact, a recent CBC report stated that less than 4 per cent of people employed in trades are women, and progress is painfully slow: Between 2008 and 2018, the percentage of female tradespeople grew only from 3.4 per cent to almost 3.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, Canada faces an urgent skilled trades shortage. As much as women need better job opportunities, the trades need women to help address the shortage. We are in a win-win situation when we simultaneously build women’s skills and change the way the trades have been structured to open them up to women.

Gender Equality Week (held Sept. 22-28, 2019) was an opportunity to dismantle these barriers and advance gender equality in the trades. Here’s how we can do it.

1. Education and outreach.

Right out of the gate, hurdles to entering the trades start with gender stereotypes and perceptions of these jobs as dirty, dangerous, and low-skilled.

These widespread ideas make it seem like girls can’t do trades and that the trades are not feasible options for them. Only 2 per cent of 15-year-old girls said they planned to pursue a career in trades, according to an OECD report, and parents were more likely to discourage girls than boys from trades careers.

That’s why WEST works with schools, educators, and labour organizations to help raise the profile of trades as a viable, lucrative alternative for young women, particularly when compared to precarious service-sector work. This means not only engaging with prospective students, but also their parents. For employers, outreach initiatives, including open houses, tours, community events, and job fairs, can help women feel welcome and envision themselves in these careers.

2. Representation.

Role models are key. If you don’t see yourself reflected in a sector, you can’t always envision yourself as part of it. The low ratio of women in trades makes it a challenge for programs like WEST to find female mentors, educators, and role models to help guide program participants. But employers and industry can increase women’s visibility by ensuring marketing materials feature diverse imagery and gender-affirming language (for example, journeyperson versus journeyman).

They can ensure job opportunities are promoted in arenas where women will see them and can engage female employees in making the recruitment process more inclusive and gender-neutral.

3. Communication and partnership.

New initiatives and associations that bring together educators, industry, and labour representatives can play a powerful role in advancing equality. It’s promising that the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum has launched a task force working toward a national strategy for women in trades. Still, regular local and regional opportunities to connect, discuss, and address the gender gap remain few and far between.

4. Ongoing analysis and improvement.

Once WEST graduates begin to move into their field, they often continue to face gender-based barriers.

They may find themselves relegated to menial tasks like sweeping, or not made aware of their employer’s apprenticeship application process. Their employer may not have accessible women-friendly workspaces like washrooms and changing rooms, and they may be unable to find child care that can accommodate night shifts. On top of that, safety and discrimination issues might arise from a lack of strong policies, practices, and training in traditionally male-centered workplaces.

WEST has created a Human Resources Toolkit to help employers address barriers like workplace culture and gender bias. It also provides guidance on how to implement initiatives like mentorship and alternative work models to boost retention of diverse staff members. As the toolkit says, inclusive and equitable practices will actually improve the work environment for employees of all genders.

The benefits of advancing gender equality in the trades go far beyond women themselves. WEST sees graduates gain the capacity to access stable incomes, reduce the need for social assistance, and better support themselves and their families. They, in turn, can become role models and mentors to younger women and encourage a new generation to follow their path.

But women alone cannot blaze this trail. The trades also have to make change. Stakeholders including employers, educators, and policy-makers need to use the tools above to set up workplaces that better recruit, support, retain, and celebrate diverse women in trades.

Editor’s Note: The CNC Industrial Mechanic Millwright Pre-Apprenticeship Program at Women’s Enterprise Skills Training (WEST) in Windsor, Ont., receives funding from the Canadian Women’s Foundation. The foundation supports programs across Canada that empower women and girls to move out of violence, out of poverty, and into confidence and leadership.