Trade sector seeks diversity

Research project aims to increase participation and success of women in construction and engineering-related trades

As part of the solution to New Zealand’s under-resourced construction sector, a new three-year research project has been launched to get more women into trades.

Jointly commissioned by the Ministry for Women and Ako Aotearoa, the National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence, it involves a group of organisations led by the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO).

“With $178 billion of work forecast for the next five years*, the strong demand for skilled workers in the construction and engineering trades is unquestionable,” says BCITO Chief Executive Warwick Quinn. “Regrettably, so too is the low participation rate of women in those trades.

“Our traditional workforce pools are not large enough to meet the demand, so we must be diverse in our approach.”

Collaboration is key

Collaboration is at the core of the project and the group’s greatest strength, says Quinn.

Members of the group include four industry training organisations representing 86 industry sectors and 38% of all industry training. They are supported by 18 associated industry educational organisations, 19 secondary schools and a growing list of supporters.

The research will be conducted over the next three years through three interrelated focus areas – working with women in the trades and those involved in pre-trade training, engaging with trade employers and working with data to establish benchmarks and measure change.

“Through frank discussions with women working in identified trades, we aim to discover what the significant characteristics of their engagement and learning journeys are. Based on what we learn from these discussions, and national and overseas research, we will initiate change projects involving educational and industry programmes, processes, and practices,” says Quinn.

One of the expected project outputs is a set of practical tools, guides and other resources for women, employers, educators and decision-makers.

In the field

Martin Goulden of Martin Goulden Builders Limited, who has had carpentry apprentice Rachel Corbett in his team for the past three years, says employers need to change their perception of what women are capable of.

“It’s always in times of need that women step forward and surprise everyone,” says Martin. “You only have to look at recent history to realise that women can do anything – look at what happened when all the men were away in WW2.”

Martin says Rachel is a very capable carpenter with excellent finishing skills and he’s glad to have her on board. According to Rachel, Martin encouraged her to give it a go.

“I’d been landscaping for about ten years and was working on a paving job next to Martin’s crew,” says Rachel. “I’d always enjoyed the timber side of things, so was intrigued and started talking to Martin about it – he was so supportive that I decided to give it a go and here I am three years later.”

Rachel says she’s not sure how to encourage more women into the building industry, despite her enjoyment of it.

“I don’t think there’s a simple solution – a lot of women are convinced they couldn’t do it because of the physicality of the work. To be honest, I think some of the more petite ones would really struggle, but then again, so would petite guys,” she says.

“I think it might help if building wasn’t presented as such a guy’s industry – you don’t see many female builders in movies, on advertisements, or interviewed in the media, so it’s kind of like we don’t exist unless it’s for something women-specific.”

Twenty-three-year old BCITO carpentry apprentice Anna Clearwater admits it wasn’t easy telling her parents that she wanted to pursue building, but she was thrilled when they reacted positively and she is very happy with her choice.

Both Anna and Rachel say that, despite being nervous about being treated differently, everyone has been hugely supportive.

“If I could give any advice to girls thinking about getting into this industry, it would be to do it! Before I came in, I was nervous that maybe I wouldn’t be accepted being a female, but everyone I’ve come across has been so supportive and so encouraging.”

*According to the Fourth National Construction Pipeline Report (2016).