NSW Government to be the exemplar State in transformative change for women working in trades.
Why the trade sector needs women
Women continue to be underrepresented in the trades sector. Participation of women in male dominated trades remains persistently low in Australia despite a suite of government and non-government initiatives since the 1980s. Women make up only 2% of qualified trade workers. This is a world wide trend.
Women face a range of barriers which inhibit their choice to participate in trades. Women’s participation in the trade workforce is critical to the economic prosperity of NSW. Women play a vital role in addressing skills shortages in key industry areas and occupations in NSW.
Why don’t many women enter the trades industry? Research shows that it’s partly cultural. Some industries are resistant to encouraging women in the workforce and gender perceptions have built up over time about which jobs and roles are ’suitable’ for women.
This means it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, where women don’t enter the trades industry because they perceive that it’s male dominated and so it stays that way.
How the strategy will work
The Trade Pathways Program focuses on three pillars of action based on research and consultation with industry stakeholders and women’s advocacy groups.
- Increase the appeal of trades to raise women’s level of participation
- Facilitate change to remove cultural and societal barriers
- Support women’s learning to maximise vocational outcomes
What the Department will do
- Establish the Trade Pathways Program as a champion for women in trades and ensure trade pathways for women are informed, accessible and supported from beginning to end
- Implement strategies to increase awareness of gender discrimination in trades workplaces to assist workplace supervisors to manage conscious and unconscious bias
- Improve access and opportunities to support women to take the first step and transition into a career in trades.