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Science & Tech

Trades: not just for the guys

Rebekah Hammond - Science & Tech Editor - Rebekah Hammond - Science & Tech Editor

The saying goes, "he's a Jack-of-all-trades," but now consider the term, "Jill-of-all-trades."

With gender stereotypes in the workplace now being dismissed as old-fashioned, both men and women are feeling more comfortable trying out careers previously dominated by the opposite gender.

When it comes to women, that means trying out trades, a traditionally male-oriented career path. Most of TRU's trade programs now have at least one woman in them, according to Lindsay Langill, dean of trades and technology.

"When I walk through the school we have women in the electrical area, we have women in the carpentry area, we have women in the auto mechanics, heavy duty, commercial transport, welding and the piping trades," said Langill. "All the big trades are covered and you'll see women in them.

Though the last three years has actually seen a decline in female enrollment, according to TRU enrollment statistics, over the past 10 years, more women have been entering trades. This year, 100 out of the 1,880 trades students were female students.

Nicole Brand, a fourth year electrical maintenance student, is one of those women who ventured to try on a trades career for size. She believes careers more traditionally dominated by one gender will continue to see more cross-over.

"Non-traditional roles in general are going to be more balanced," Brand said. "I have a guy friend who's a nurse and you'd never see that [in the past]."

An adult student, Brand previously worked as a research ecologist in the forestry industry before deciding to retrain. She recognized forestry was hurting and wanted to get out and find a job that involved as little time behind a desk as possible.

"I thought, 'What can I do that I don't have to be at a desk all the time?' Trades came to my mind," she said. "Also [when] trades people [came to] my house, they were always busy. Troubleshooting is a big thing in electrical, it's not boring and I thought that sounded appealing."

Coming from forestry, a largely male-dominated profession, Brand didn't think she would feel uncomfortable entering trades.

"I didn't think it would feel weird, it being all guys, but it does feel weird, initially. You think 'yeah, I'm the only girl here,'" Brand said. "It's been really positive, the instructors here are all very great and the guys that you go to school with, they don't really care."

Brand finds the students are comfortable sharing classes with females.

"At school, I'm a mature student retraining, so most of the students I go to school with are younger and they're very accepting," Brand said "I think they're just used to women doing whatever they want to do just like men can do whatever they want to do."

Men working in the field, however, sometimes have to adjust to the idea of Brand working alongside them.

"It was fine, it wasn't like it was bad or anything, but because some of the people have been in the trades for 40 years and have never actually worked in the trade with a woman, it's just a little odd, but they quickly get over that," she said

Kyle DeRose, Brand's lab partner doesn't have any trouble working with her.

"I don't mind it at all. She's smart and a good worker," he said. "I usually didn't [have girls in my other classes], but girls are starting to come into the program."

TRU is working to to encourage women to enter trades by providing female trades speakers at industry promotional events and representing women at career fairs.

"We always make sure our booth is staffed with some females, so it's not just guys behind the booth," Langill said. "We make sure the image is correct.

TRU has tried to foster an environment that will make female trades students feel comfortable.

"When [students] come to TRU to do their training, we really make sure we operate within a gender neutral environment, meaning that we apply the university code of conduct to all of our classes that are mainly male-oriented, trades guys," Langill said. "The younger generations are becoming more acceptant that that's the norm and it certainly has changed since I came through the program, it's been a lot of work on everybody's behalf."

"I definitely have to watch what I say, that's a big one," said DeRose when asked whether there are differences in working with women.

One misconception that Brand has faced as a woman in trade, however, is that women often get to go to school on full scholarship.

"I'm very shocked by the number of people who say, 'Oh, you're here for free?' Just because you're a woman in trades doesn't make you eligible for huge pots of money," Brand said. "I don't think there necessarily shouldn't be [ scholarships for women] but I think equal-footing is a good thing. Giving favours to someone sometimes makes everybody else resent them."

Another thing Brand runs into sometimes is the attitude that working with women can be more difficult.

"That's sort of an immature attitude and I think the more women going into trades, [the better it will get]," she said.

After graduating from the program, Brand plans on continuing to work with the local school district's maintenance and electrical department where she's been working for her apprenticeship hours.

Overall, Brand enjoys being a woman in the trades program.

"Some people say, 'men are naturally good at that,' but I think everyone has their strengths and weaknesses and if you're a really hands-on person and can fix things and feel accomplished, than I think trades is a good thing for you," she said. Don't let the fact that it's a trade and, "not for women" intimidate you."