This is a feature I wrote for Women’s Views on News, a volunteer news project that aims to raise women’s profile in the media.
Women make up 49% of the UK workforce, but just 1% of its trades people. While progress is being made in getting women to enter traditionally male-dominated fields such as science and engineering, the stereotypes of blokey builders, plumbers and electricians have proved harder to shift.
Diane Johnson, the outgoing president of the Electrical Contractors Association, thinks she might have the answer in the form of a new training scheme, which she describes as a “blueprint” for getting women into the manual trades.
Wired for Success will train 12 women over two years. Unlike a conventional four-year apprenticeship, the scheme harnesses a new NVQ qualification allowing electricians to enter the profession at a domestic rather than industrial level after two years.
A key part of the scheme’s accessibility is its childcare flexibility. Instead of a normal apprenticeship, which is fulltime, Wired for Success takes place during term time and coincides with the school day. When a child is sick and cannot attend school, trainees can get their childcare costs refunded.
However, unlike an apprenticeship, the women taking part in Wired for Success are not paid. Instead the participants are all unemployed tenants of London and Quadrant (L&Q) social housing. Under the government’s New Deal plan, they are eligible to complete training while continuing to receive state benefits.
As Johnson explains, L&Q are ideal partners for the scheme since “it’s part of their remit to enrich the lives of those living in their properties.”
The association owns 66,000 homes, presenting many opportunities for the kind of electrical maintenance jobs the scheme trains for. And, as Johnson stresses, this is a familiar and non-threatening environment for women to start working in rather than a building site which typically has a more macho atmosphere.
The view that women can be deterred by a male-dominated industry is shared by Niki Luscombe, Chief Executive of Women and Manual Trades (WAMT). “There are huge cultural issues accepting women into trade roles, despite changes to legislation and equality policies,” she says, citing common prejudices such as women not being strong enough to lift heavy objects.
WAMT runs regular workshops and work-placements enabling women to gain skills in a supportive atmosphere. Luscombe argues that this “crucial experience” can be key to helping women get their foot in the door.
While there are preconceptions to be overcome, Johnson also maintains there is a gap in the market that could be met uniquely by women.
“The UK’s ageing population and varied cultures create customers who would feel more comfortable with having women, rather than men, visit them at home,” she says. “There are some religions that don’t permit women to be alone at home with a man from outside the family, for example.”
Another opportunity that Johnson identifies is weekend and evening work, arguing that in an economic downturn, people are less willing or able to take time off work to wait while tradespeople come round.
Luscombe also dismisses the idea that women are unable to work antisocial hours as “rubbish”. “Care roles are often antisocial and involve long hours. Women have creative ways of building support networks from family and friends.”
Johnson explains that her motivation for launching Wired for Success came from meeting unemployed women who were repeatedly offered temporary cleaning and administration jobs with little opportunity for promotion or progression.
“I want to state that there is nothing wrong in itself with these jobs, but when there are a million women of working age unemployed in the UK, it its time that more of them are encouraged to work in skilled sectors.”
But while self-employment has the advantages of flexibility, there are definite downsides including foregoing the stability of sick pay, holiday allowances and a guaranteed income.
Luscombe agrees that setting up alone, particularly in a time of economic downturn, can be daunting. “90% of first businesses fail, and women seeking to enter the trades face additional prejudices. So it’s not surprising that tradeswomen can find self-employment difficult.”, she says.
According to Office for National Statistics data, there is an average 9% pay disparity between the earnings of male and female trades people. Luscombe attributes this to women feeling compelled to under price their work in order to win contracts.
Training just 12 women, Wired for Success is a drop in the ocean. However, what it does is seek out an alternative to the apprenticeship model by partnering with a housing association – though cost of training is met by the tax-payer in the form of benefits.
And while women continue to account for just 1% of all tradespeople, it is clear that something needs to change to create a flexible route into the industry.
