Young women inspired to pursue careers in trades

It was an evening of inspiration and encouragement last Thursday as local women had the chance to share their experiences with a younger generation at the annual “Skills Work! For Women” networking dinner at La Place Rendez-Vous.
The evening gave female high school students from across Northwestern Ontario the opportunity to meet women who work in the skilled trades and technology careers, explained Karen Throupe, manager of programs for Skills Canada-Ontario, which organizes the dinners annually across the province.

“It’s an opportunity for them to learn about these careers and sort of break the stigma that these are just careers that men can go into, because obviously women can do it to,” Throupe said. “It’s about empowering women and making them realize some of the options that are out there.”
While some last-minute cancellations reduced the number of girls attending to around 20, a dozen mentors were on hand to speak to them from a variety of careers, such as trucking, graphic and web design, construction, sculpting, agriculture, and interior design.
“Looking around the room, I really think the sense of community that this brings, and letting girls see these women at work in their community and hear their thoughts and their ideas and their experiences are, is also very valuable,” said Throupe.
“It’s all about career development certainly, and giving them some food for thought.”
“Girls need to know that there are trades open to them,” said local chef Jo-Anna Granholm, who was one of the mentors. “We are not equally balanced and represented in skilled trades yet.
“The doors are opening, but we need to blow them open,” she stressed. “Events like this show girls that there are women doing these things, and you can do them, too, if that’s what you want to do.”
Statistics Canada calculates 97 percent of those employed in the trades in Canada are male, compared to non-trade occupations where the male to female ratio is more equal. The numbers of female apprentices sits at only 10 percent nationwide.
“It would have been nice to have had this when I was in high school,” noted Trish Law, another one of the mentors for the evening, who works as a Geographic Information Services technician for the Town of Fort Frances.
If something like this dinner had been available years ago, it might have saved her from the extra years spent at university, caused by switching programs, until finding a career path she wanted to pursue, Law explained.
“I just liked it all-around,” said Fort High student Carrie Bragg. “I liked being able to actually interact with the people that are doing all different things.”
With an interest in going into photography, the evening gave Bragg a chance to meet local photographer Jennifer L’Hirondelle, and even use L’Hirondelle’s equipment.
“I wasn’t really sure about being a photographer, but then she [L’Hirondelle] said she really enjoyed it and she wants me to come with her for a wedding,” Bragg said, noting the experience has now encouraged her to pursue this career.
And even if one of the presented careers was something a girl couldn’t see herself doing, they still were asking questions, noted mentor Raeann Watson, who talked to the participants about the years she spent as a truck driver.
“I don’t think any one of these girls ever thought they would be a truck driver, but they were asking questions, and they were interested in why I was doing it, why I did it, why I would love to go back. Why, why, why,” enthused Watson.
“It was very refreshing. I was surprised.”
That the girls treated the event as a learning opportunity, and not just another mandatory event, also was a refreshing, Watson added.
“It was nice because they were actually interested in being here and wanting to learn, and there was something that they wanted to pick up from everybody,” echoed Law, noting many of the girls were figuring out connections between the jobs they were presented with and how it could apply to an area they did have an interest in.
“I was very surprised at how into being here and asking questions they were, and just the amount of questions and the quality of the questions,” she added. “It wasn’t just ‘So what do you do?’ It was ‘So what do you use this for? How did you get there? What else could you do with it? Why did you do this?’”
Being able to talk with the young women, and their enthusiasm, was one of the best things about the evening for Granholm.
“I love the excitement about the future in their eyes and the idea that they’re already beginning to plan for it,” she remarked. “There’s so much experience already in them, and it’s great to see them looking forward to the opportunities in their life.”