Choosing a career is a complicated decision for many people. It’s a struggle that often starts at the transition that follows high school but may last much longer, as there are rarely guarantees of straightforward professional pathways. Social circles of influence such as family and school play a key role in presenting possibilities, discussing programs of studies, and sharing common experiences. Expectations of what lies ahead in the job market may cause anxiety; even once a person has stepped into the workforce, issues such as work/life balance and job satisfaction may come into play, raising a whole range of questions again.
That process becomes even more complex when you are a woman, and not only because of long-standing gender pay gaps in so many industries. The fact is that there is a whole other world of possibilities that a woman may never consider for herself, in large part because it has simply not been presented as an option. It’s a matter of some work areas being historically seen through a gender-biased lens—the trades are an example of what used to traditionally be a man’s world of possibilities.
Fortunately, times are changing and an increasing number of women have been finding their way into the vast trades industries. We caught up with a few here at Camosun to find out why they’ve chosen the path they have.
At Camosun College, the Women in Trades Training (WITT) program offers two Trade Sampling Programs, with funded tuition for eligible participants. The 12-week programs are designed to present an introductory path to women who are interested in pursuing a career in trades but don’t know where to start.
Camosun WITT program coordinator Sarah-Jayne Roe wants Camosun to be known as a place of hope for women in trades.
“One of the most important things about having the trades exploration program for women is that it’s a safe space for women to come in and try new things and not feel out of place,” says Roe. “And they are all kind of coming in from the same perspective, so it’s students who were totally green to the trades, totally new to the trades, and they can kind of all go in together.”
As the main contact person for the women who are not yet sure what kind of trades they are interested in, or if they even want to go into trades, Roe acknowledges that this may not be an obvious decision to make.
“It all comes down to the fact that they may not have had the opportunity to try different trades in the past,” says Roe. “They may not be so comfortable to go into it.”
Currently enrolled in the Plumbing and Pipe Trades Foundations certificate, Danelle Campbell began her studies at Camosun by taking the WITT sampling program.
“To start off, I was just open to anything,” she says. “I wanted to try it all, but to begin with I said, ‘Yeah, I will try anything, probably, except plumbing—I don’t think that’s for me.’ And then I did [the WITT sampling program] and I was like, ‘Oh, yeah—this is totally it.’”
Likewise, the WITT sampling program was Heidi Waugh’s starting point to get into the Sheet Metal and Metal Fabrication Foundations program this January. Waugh took the marine focus stream of the program and now she aims to complete a dual apprenticeship by later pursuing a Marine Service Technician certification.
“Through the WITT at Camosun we went for a few tours to different shipyards and different marine sites,” says Waugh. “We found a few shops that I really fell in love with, and that’s how I ultimately found my desire to do sheet metal and work around boats.”
Madison Briche has also been in the Sheet Metal and Metal Fabrication Foundation program since January; she’s a former care worker who restores old cars as a hobby.
“My main drive to go into the trades was to get in the automotive restoration business,” says Briche. “There are not a lot of women out there.”
A career change is not an uncommon reason for women entering the trades. Campbell had heard about WITT and decided to research it; she had always been searching for something that she would want to do for work that she actually liked.
“I’ve never had a job over a year,” says Campbell. “I’ve come back to jobs but I’ve never worked for a year because I’d just feel bored and I’d get over it, then I’d look for different opportunities.”
Before enrolling in WITT, Waugh had no experience in trades—she used to work in an administrative role in the healthcare industry—but she was looking for a change.
“I had had a point where I knew what I was doing wasn’t something I was passionate about,” says Waugh. “I wasn’t excited to go to work; I wasn’t inspired to be at work.”
Briche says that she got introduced to sheet metal by looking at projects on social media, which actually helped her to figure out the program of study she was interested in.
“I initially was registered for Welding and I asked around for every guy who would build things and I would love the things they built,” says Briche. “You would just assume they were welders and it just turned out they were metal fabricators, so I changed my course. I’m so thankful I asked.”
Waugh heard about WITT from a roommate who had gone into construction work. But even with two brothers who had gone through trades school, Waugh had never considered it as an option for herself up until that moment.
“Not that it wasn’t there, it was just too daunting of a field and too unknown, especially as a female,” says Waugh. “And the WITT was a huge help in that sense, just to give me the confidence and a little bit of a platform to step into the trades world.”
It ended up being a very fast change for Waugh. She was at work on a Friday, and then on Monday she was in the WITT program. She has never gone back to that job. Waugh says that that was actually the only sense in which her new trajectory was shocking for her family.
“The fact that I’m interested in building boats, being mechanically pushed throughout the day and using my creative side a little bit more, I don’t think has been a surprise,” says Waugh. “It’s kind of just like this big aha moment that has happened for everyone around me and makes sense.”
Campbell is also glad that she had the support of family and friends about her stepping into trades. Nonetheless, she says that a friend’s mother once questioned how she would manage the idea that plumbing involved a lot of brute force and strength.
“I’m really not concerned. I’m pretty strong, and there are a lot of mechanical advantages for different machines that we can use,” says Campbell. “And it’s not always about being super strong; it’s about being smart, and I’m going to be fine.”
Briche describes how her family—although probably being protective—was quite taken aback by her change of career.
“When I told them I was changing to go into the trades, everyone told me I was crazy,” says Briche. “Everyone just kept telling me that I was going to have to have much thicker skin because it’s a men’s industry.”
In terms of her own expectations for the program, Briche didn’t foresee the program having so much math, and she says that she didn’t even know how to properly read a tape measure before enrolling. Despite that, she feels confident after only the first few weeks of classes.
“I’m so impressed by how much I’ve learned in such a small amount of time,” says Briche. “When you called, I was in the middle of building ducts, air ducts. All of us, we just walk up to the machine and we know what we are doing now.”
The hands-on aspect of the trades programs has met Campbell’s expectations.
“It’s good you can divide up some study time and then some shop time so you’re not all sleepy or you’re not all sometimes flustered, because projects can get a little flustering sometimes.”
Additionally, Campbell loves how the Plumbing courses are self-paced but also allow her to have a group of classmates with whom she goes through the program.
“You just kind of move around with your group, just as long as people don’t fall behind or people don’t go ahead,” says Campbell. “I think we all kind of encourage each other to do a good job.”
Roe points out that the students usually make lifelong friends because of the mutual support experienced during their learning processes.
“What will naturally happen—and it happens in all classes—if you do have someone who has tried things before, they create this peer support within the classroom and they help each other out,” says Roe. “So, you know, if one of the women sees someone struggling, they will go and help them with that.”
Waugh mentions that during the sampling program she met women from many different backgrounds but who all had in common the will to do something more and to try something different.
“The WITT program acted as a guide to open up a lot of doors for us and to kind of dip our toes in and see what felt good,” says Waugh. “But, as well, it gave me a network of really strong women, and all of us coming out of our program have ended up staying in the trades.”
Briche, who is in her 30s, feels good going to school because she can share her experience with other women, especially younger ones.
“It’s hard to know what you’re going to do when you’re 20 years old,” says Briche. “And I wish that I’d had a female [role model] in the trades that could’ve told me, ‘You can do it.’”
It was with her younger sister’s group of friends that Briche started to speak out about the industry.
“There was a bunch of them over and I was telling them about how not intimidating it is,” says Briche. “Because you think, trades, like, it’s just full of guys, and guys are grungy and vulgar, but it’s actually so respectful.”
Campbell encourages other women interested in working in a physical job and being in the field to try the trades programs at Camosun.
“All the teachers are rad, all the students are sick, all the projects so far are great. I’m loving it,” says Campbell. “I just tell everyone how excited I am to go to school.”
Briche recently heard that her class might be the first in Sheet Metal to get a female instructor, and she is really excited about it.
“That would just be a really cool thing to eventually aim to,” says Briche. “If I can go into the trades and have a good job, then I can maybe one day become an instructor. That would be so cool.”
Moving forward into the job market, Waugh believes that she can rely on that network of women whom she can help and be helped by.
“Just to know, even walking onto a job site, there’s still those 13 other women I was in the WITT with that are out there doing the same thing as me,” says Waugh, “and they have the same frustrations and the same worries, but we’re there to support each other.”
Campbell has observed the job market becoming more open to women in trades.
“I’m not going to say it’s an advantage, but I think it’s like a new way that companies are thinking,” says Campbell. “They are more cautious; there are different perspectives from our part to work alongside men.”
Roe says that today there is a need for trades workers, and the initiatives around WITT focus on getting more people—in this case, women—into the trades industry.
“Women right now are in low percentage in the majority of the trades,” says Roe. “The only ones at the college that we have that there are already over 25 percent is horticulture and cook.”
Campbell believes that there is a boom in the job market. She is open to going to other places in Canada but ideally wishes to get an opportunity to work and live on the island.
“I’m pretty hopeful,” says Campbell. “I’ve already got in contact with some companies before I’d been in the programs and they essentially just said, ‘Contact us when you’re done.’”
At the end of the WITT sampling program, Waugh was placed in a female-owned sheet metal shop for a one-week work experience placement.
“I walked into the shop and everybody lifted their helmets and there were three women staring back at me,” says Waugh. “That was just quite a profound moment to realize that there’s a future for me in this industry, there’s safe spaces in the industry, and there’s a lot of women out there that are just really killing it in the sheet metal world and trades in general.”
Camosun holds various events to create a community and a relaxed environment for women in trades programs at the college. One of these events is a monthly networking breakfast, which Roe says is very well attended.
“What we do is we work together so that we have women of all different levels, of all different trades, to come to the breakfasts,” says Roe. “We have employers come in sometimes; we have staff come in. It’s primarily for the women, but we don’t ever turn anybody away.”
Roe highlights the fact that Victoria is a small place where everybody somehow knows everybody, which also makes this kind of networking opportunity highly valuable for the students.
“By coming and meeting these people straight away, you already know 60 other women in the trades,” says Roe. “Straight away, you get all these connections.”
Being connected and supported by a network of women is an essential part of a woman’s experience in becoming a trades worker. It is largely about women inspiring each other—this is why representation matters. May there be more female-owned trades shops with increasing ratios of women working. May there be more women teaching in trades courses. May there be more women trades students.
Women who have stepped into trades have the chance to empower other women in order to get rid of gender stereotypes that long have held off a range of career possibilities from women.
Initiatives such as Camosun’s WITT are paramount in opening up safe spaces for women to give trades a try and to potentially thrive in a new career path. Further, its power to impact the labour market goes beyond pragmatic outcomes of filling in job demand—it opens up the dialogue with the companies and other stakeholders in terms of supporting more education initiatives and, importantly, creating more inclusive workplaces, like the ones the Camosun students of today will occupy tomorrow.