Why don't more women enter the trades?

Why don’t more women enter the trades?  The percentage of women in my occupation  is 2%.  Other trades have a higher percentage of women, but they are still quite low.

When I was in trade school, I was told that getting an apprenticeship would be pretty much impossible.  Companies just don’t want to hire women to do their mechanical work, they said.  I was told there were no women millwrights (not true, I know there were others).  Even though I did not receive much support from my instructors, I still stuck with it – stubborn being that I am.

There are programs now that encourage women to enter non-traditional work.  There are more women working in industry. 

So why do so few of us consider working a trade?

I can think of a few reasons:

Fear of not getting a job

Fear of not being accepted

Fear of being harassed

Fear of not being able to do the work

Fear of not being strong enough

Fear of being labeled a feminist or a lesbian

Fear of ridicule

A strong dislike of getting dirty

Family, friends, or boyfriend/husband objecting 

Getting dirty is bound to happen in jobs like these, so that is a valid concern.

People discouraging us from our desires is unfortunately a common thing, and one that we can have a hard time overcoming. We have to decide who makes our decisions for us.

The rest of the reasons I came up with are all to do with fear of something unpleasant happening.

A common saying is: don’t let fear and good sense hold you back. It is meant as a joke.

When people let fear control their lives, they fail to accomplish things. Worse, they fail to even attempt them.

I decided to go after what I wanted when I entered trade school, and if I didn't get an apprenticeship, then I would be in the same place as I was before. Not the end of the world.

What other reasons are there that prevent women from considering the trades?

What are the requirements for your job?

There are very few jobs that actually require a penis or vagina. All other jobs should be open to everybody.

~Florynce Kennedy

Florynce Kennedy was a remarkable woman.  She was a civil rights advocate and a feminist. She was flamboyant, and did not hesitate to speak her mind.

I love this quote. I’m thinking it would be cool to put this on a business card, to hand to people who  who say they don't believe me when told what I do for a living.

Why didn't I think of this?

I have rather large hands and feet for a woman.  Not really large, but not dainty either. It is a good thing, actually.  My hands are strong and can grip things readily.  My feet easily fit into men’s shoes and socks.

I came across this article about a woman who couldn’t find work boots in colours she wanted. She obviously is an enterprising sort and has gone into the boot business.

Rosies workwear is another company selling coveralls for women. I haven’t tried either of these companies’ products.

When I started in the trades there were no work boots and coveralls for women, not in the stores I shopped at. There was also no internet either.

I was lucky that the men’s boots fit me comfortably and I could always find my size. The coveralls were a different story, and they have always fitted me awkwardly.

I never considered the possibility of going into business in his obviously untapped market of women’s workwear.  I would not have known how even if I had thought of it.

The market for these type of items is growing as more women work in industry. The work wear stores routinely carry women's steel-toed footwear now.

I still wear men’s work boots though, they fit me better.

How common is sexual harassment?

Sexual harassment.

It’s an ugly thing.

It is way too common.

However, I want to point out that for every man who has made a comment meant to bother or hurt me, there are more who have been supportive and would stand up for me.  I have great respect for these men of integrity and self-confidence, who are not afraid to speak up when they see something they consider wrong.

When I first was hired in the union and given an apprenticeship, there were no other women working in the union I joined. I know many of the membership had misgivings about the wisdom of this decision. Most of them had probably never worked with a woman before.

I knew this, of course, as I went to my first jobs.  I knew that the guys would be looking at me with curiosity, wondering if I could “handle” the job. I was younger then, and cheekier. I found that using humour would put most of the guys at ease.

I was lucky, and didn’t have too many problems with the people I worked with over the years.  I have read other women’s accounts of their experiences in the trades, the harassment they endured, and some are really terrible. Some of these women left their jobs and are scarred and bitter about what happened to them.

I can’t help but wonder about the type of men who would harass someone this way.  I realize of course that there are people in this world who are not good.  There are social misfits, bullies, sadists, sociopaths and other nasty personalities in every culture the world over.  They are rare, though. More common is the guy who observes bullying behaviour and does not interfere. The news is full of accounts of victims of harassment or violence where the onlookers did nothing to stop it.

I have read how these harassers pick their victims, trying to find people who are easy to bully. I realize this is probably how it is, but I’m uncomfortable with this theory as it seems to put the blame partially on the victim. 

Are we more likely to be victims because we’re women?

Are employers leery of hiring us because we’re more likely to be harassed?

I think this is more likely the truth than the excuse that we can’t do the job because we’re women.

In the news, we always hear about the negative things that happen.  I would love a statistic about how many women work in predominantly male jobs and have few or no problems.

Unfortunately, I think more women than not have experienced harassment at the worksite.  

Is there a women's bathroom I can use?

What is it about women’s bathrooms that seem to be so problematic to employers? I have heard companies claim that to hire women, whey would have to build women’s facilities, and that it would be too expensive.

That was when I first started working in industry. In workplaces where there were only men, there would only be men’s toilets. This has been used in the past as a reason to not hire female workers.

What a way to discriminate against women!

On my first job, the construction workers had a commercial toilet trailer. It was separated in two sections, one side for men and the other for women.  However, since the men weren’t used to women on jobsites, they used both sides.  Usually they used the men’s side to urinate – I assume it had urinals to encourage this – and the other side if they wanted to sit for a while.

I was young then, and I found that if I didn’t drink, I could last a shift without having to go to the bathroom. I couldn’t do that now. Besides, it’s unhealthy.

I found out soon enough that all the large workplaces did have female workers – in the offices. Usually I was able to use their facilities, and I was always careful not to leave a mess behind.  Or at least, not too much of a mess.  I get much dirtier than your average office lady when I work.

Now whenever I work at a new site, the first thing I do after getting my tools to the site is to scope out the bathrooms.

The people who work permanently in some of the places I have been to can get quite proprietary about their bathrooms.  Some of the sites would not allow construction workers to use their bathrooms at all, and the contractors would have to bring in trailers or those nasty portable chemical toilets.  One mill I worked at allowed the men to use their facilities, but the women’s toilets were always locked. It took me a while, but after talking to the supervisor there I managed to get access.

The temporary workers like me got to know the various policies in the places we would be sent to often, and worked around these idiosyncrasies.

People can be strange when it comes to their bathrooms.

The toilet issue has gotten much better over the years.  There are regulations on how many toilets a workplace needs. Most places also have toilets for handicapped people as well as separate men’s and women’s toilets now. Having more women working in industry has improved the situation tremendously.

The women I have met who have worked in the trades for many years usually have similar toilet stories.

If anyone else has has had these experiences, please feel free to share.

We're going to the bar. Care to come along?

When working out of town, as happens frequently in my profession, workers often unwind by going for drinks after the shift ends.  Especially construction workers.

I have also joined in the socializing this way.  After all, what do you do in the evenings when you’re far away from home and not working.

I have witnessed more than one tradesperson, slurring his words and staggering, trying to find his way back to his room. I have even helped a few so they wouldn't get lost.

There can be hazards to too much social drinking, especially with people you work with. More so when you’re a woman. You don’t want to give the guys too many reasons to talk about you the next day. There's no need to stay alone in your room every evening either, though. 

These are my common-sense guidelines for going to the bar with co-workers:

1 – have your own transportation.  This is a must in my book.

2 – go with people you know quite well and trust. This is especially true if the drinks are to be in someone’s room.  In a public bar, especially a nice one in a good part of town, you can be more relaxed.

3 – limit your alcohol, and always be in control.  This is a good idea at all outings, work related or not.

4 – if things get rowdy, or you feel uncomfortable for any reason, leave.  This is also applicable to all occasions.

5 – don’t go somewhere you’re uncomfortable going.  The men seem to like going to strip clubs when out of town, something I always avoid.

6 – make sure to eat dinner.  I’ve known co-workers who start drinking right after work, and don’t stop to eat.  Not a pretty sight.

When I first started in construction, this kind of imbibing was very common.  Lately I have been to jobs where very few of the guys drink much, if at all.  I remember one memorable dinner in a restaurant where every member of a fairly large crew of mechanics drank nothing stronger than tea.  It was unusual.

Star Trek, siblings and diversity

I am a Star Trek fan.  Not a huge fan, I couldn’t answer the trivia questions most Trekkies can, but I always enjoyed the original series.

So I was interested to read that William Shatner just had his 80^th birthday.  He is still working on television, is writing a book and keeps active.  Well done!  I hope I will be as active when I’m 80.

When I saw this article, with an interview with the actor, I just had to send a link to my brother, thinking he would be interested too.

Turns out my brother isn’t as big a fan as I am.

We exchanged a few emails in which he declared the characters in Star Trek as two dimensional with little or no room for personal expression, and I extolled its modernity in portraying a diverse crew with visible minorities, women and even aliens.  This was, after all, made more than 40 years ago. I mentioned that here we are in the 21^st century, and still struggling to create diversified and equal workplaces.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I ended my last email to him with the line: For its day, Star Trek went where no man had gone before.

Overdid it, didn't I?

 My patient and supportive sibling answered me by suggesting that maybe I should do a post on my blog “about this whole thing of a black woman radiocontroller and analyze this whole equality in the workplace thingy".

I decided to take him up on it, and this post is inspired by my brother.

I have to thank him.

I will be posting more on workplace diversity, after all this is a subject that directly affects me.