School Councillors and Educators

 

Get in touch to have our female tradeswomen present at your school!

Representation matters.

If women can SEE other women already working in trade roles, it will encourage more women to see this as a viable career and long term future. The aim is to transform the industry, its participants and the culture of construction, and contribute to direct and flow-on economic growth.

You can’t be what you cant see.

 Our Work With Schools

  • We will collaborate with teachers and careers counsellors to create workshop and events where young women can see real tradeswomen and ask questions about a trade career

  • We will provide site visits and excursion to show female tradies in site in their day to day work environment

  • We will attend school presentations and careers nights to talk about overcoming the existing stigma and stereotypes and what a trade career looks like

  • We can provide training events and workshops to educate young folk on trades 

  • We can facilitate hands on events with @twoshedsworkshops where young folk can learn how to use power tools, make furniture and learn basic carpentry skills 

WHY?

LESS THAN 2%

Female participation as apprentices and trainees in the construction, automotive and electrical trades is less than 2%, if not less. Changing little over the last 25 years.

 BARRIERS

🛠️ In primary and secondary school, there is a lack of information about careers in trades for girls 

🛠️ Poor workplace culture and social misconception that often makes being in trades an unattractive career path 

🛠️ No structured support systems for women in trade roles working in male-dominated trade industries  

 LESSONS LEARNT

  • Previous campaigns to rectify the low levels of female participation have not resulted in substantial increases of female participation. Why?

  • Because they have not incorporated all of the relevant industry bodies needed to succeed. 

  • The burden of higher recruitment and retention has been placed on women rather than the industry at large. Build Like A Girl is changing that.

Build Like A Girl is focused on recruiting, training and retaining women in all trade roles, not just those recognised as a skills shortage, or those that require an indentured apprenticeship training structure. Trade roles encompass what are considered "Traditional Trade roles" such as Carpenters, bricklayers, Plumbers and electricians, as well as painters, plasterers, concreters, steelfixers, stonemasons, roof tilers, roof plumbers, glaziers and floor finishers[ES1] .