Women in trades need co-operation from the top to gain equality

One of the most difficult mental processes in the world is to get rid of a preconceived idea. That's particularly true when it comes to the workplace and the roles different people play in it.

This month, I will participate in a conference on women in trades, held by the Manitoba Construction Sector Council, which is working to break down some of the barriers to women's participation in the trades and to encourage greater equality in these jobs.

Women's participation in the trades is increasing slowly, but progress is still needed to bring equitable distribution to these fields.

Just under four percent of Canadian workers in the trades are women, and women apprentices in the trades are mainly concentrated in traditionally feminine fields like hairstyling.

While some of the trades require a level of physical strength many women lack, others are fully within women's capacity, but the numbers of girls and young women entering these trades is still low.

Increasing the number of women in trades might help to decrease the pay gap between men and women that persists, even in 2019. A Statistics Canada study released in October 2019 says while the wage gap is shrinking, women still earn only about 87 cents for each dollar that men earn.

Part of the problem is that, whether by chance or design, men often dominate leadership positions and their ideas continue to influence hiring practices. This is true even in fields that tend to attract large numbers of women, such as librarianship.

When I initially trained as a librarian, my classes consisted almost entirely of women, with a small sprinkling of men.

The director of the program, on the other hand, was a man, and I have known several other men in leadership positions, presumably higher paid than the women who work for them in an occupation that is otherwise predominantly female.

The high proportion of men in leadership is paradoxical, especially considering the difficulty that some trained librarians, including me, have had in finding any kind of work in that field.

Since libraries generally set their own criteria for whether to hire university-trained staff, college-trained technicians or people with no training at all, managers have a high level of discretion in hiring workers.

Equality is possible, but it takes work

Libraries tend to be chronically underfunded and managers frequently promote staff from within rather than bring in new people, making the job search difficult, to say the least. That has left me struggling to find enough work in writing, editing and pet care (which I discovered, to my surprise, is considered a trade).

I have no desire to be in library management, but if more women were in these positions, it could have a beneficial effect on hiring practices and possibly open up the way for people like me to secure a career in our chosen area of expertise.

Unless people act decisively, the gains that women have made in the past decades could easily be lost.

The same can be true of the trades and similar fields: The barriers to success relate to the attitudes of teachers, employers and others who influence career choices.

Encouraging girls to enter non-traditional careers is the first step. For about 10 years, I have been writing career-related articles, frequently on the trades, for an online educational blog. Others might choose to mentor young people, especially girls, and encourage them to explore their options.

Once people are trained, the next step requires co-operation from employers and others with influence over people's careers.

Just as a change in library leadership could help to expand that field, a new openness to women in other careers could help close the wage gap and bring about greater equality among Canadians.

Equality is possible, but it takes work.

If employers, instructors and others work together, Canadians can make a difference and bring new opportunities for everyone.

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