MENTORING
Women
in Trades
How mentors are making it happen
By Jenn Miller, Occupational Safety Group
The #MeToo and Time’s Up movements have helped ush-er
in a new era of equality for women. There is now a
long overdue focus on women occupying spaces that
used to be considered off-limits. More women are breaking down
barriers and entering more trades. Yet, trades remain overwhelm-ingly
male-dominated. Lack of mentors is an often-cited reason for
the lack of female representation. There are not enough strong fe-male
leaders to guide women into largely male-dominated trades.
As a result, women do not yet recognize trade jobs as spaces they
can occupy. That’s a problem. More female mentors are needed if
women are going to gain equal footing in trades.
Strong female mentors and leaders make a
difference. They break down barriers to
forge pathways in order to occupy spaces
in male dominated fields. But mentors
are more than trailblazers. They’re
also guides, teachers and support-ers.
They help other women de-velop
the coping strategies and
thinkbigmagazine.ca | Quarter 4 2018 | Think BIG 45
/thinkbigmagazine.ca