1
Negative attitudes to apprenticeship and a poor
image of the trades on the part of young people,
parents, and employers

A. GENERIC BARRIERS FACED BY YOUTH, STUDENTS AND PARENTS

Negative attitudes of youth to apprenticeship,and a negative image of the trades

Employers, unions and young people themselves noted the negative attitudes of youth and students to the trades, which make it extremely difficult for employers in many trades to attract apprentices (CARS Council, 1999; Angus Reid Group, 1998; MacCulloch and Henley, 2002, ). Government stakeholders tended to concur, asserting that, “the main challenge is the image of the trades. The image is essentially negative and affects all occu-pations and in every region of the country” (). Respondents described these attitudes in a variety of different ways, citing themes such as:

• Perceptions that trades are essentially seasonal occupations involving hardship ();
• “Some parents and students are scared of apprenticeship because of its ‘labouring’ work stereotype”
  ();
• A perception that trades are for less academically inclined students, or are dirty, dangerous or not challenging (Convergence Management Consultants, 1996, );
• Perceptions among young people that trades do not require a high degree of skill or apti-tude (“Labour Pains,” 1997). Youth have many preconceptions about trades, including the degree of intelligence needed to perform them, income levels (seen as low), poor career potential, precarious job stability, poor mobil-ity, cost of training, and the mix of classroom and workplace experience (Macdonald and Associates, 1998);
• Students have narrow, stereotypical views of science, and even more restricted knowledge of the widening range of technologies. Their views of trades are even more constrained, with the exception of students who had a family member or family friend in the trades (Hypatia Project, 2002);
• Perceptions of some industries as undesirablefrom a career perspective (CARS, 1999; Information Development and Training Inc, 2001).

As one provincial government report noted,

“At age 16, those who drop out will have little in the way of an educational credential. For those who stay in school ... there appears to be an overemphasis on the preparation for and the value of university education as compared to other alternatives. Further, there is some indication that students who opt for nonuniversity related programs are viewed to somehow have failed.”

(Select Standing Committee on Educationin British Columbia, 2002)

A number of respondents drew attention to therole that early exposure and socialization playsin affecting children’s propensity to be interested in trades, technologies and sciences.

Respondents also noted that trades were perceived as “second-class” careers or “dead-ends,” with little career-advancement potential (Conver-gence Management Consultants, 1996, ). Alternatively, trades were seen as jobs for underachievers (GPC International, 2001). An Ontario survey found that only four percent of respondents identified the skilled trades when asked to identify the best career for young people today (Angus Reid Group 1998).