Please read this chapter

Considering sciences, trades & technologies

This chapter is about training for jobs in trades, science and technology. These would include, for example, carpenter, welder, computer programmer/analyst, forestry technologist, engineer, and biologist. Most women have to go out of their way to imagine themselves going into these fields, but it's well worth the effort. Besides the fact that these jobs generally pay better than most jobs in predominantly female occupations, much of the predicted job market growth in the coming years is going to be in these fields.

Most of us work because we need the money. Ideally, we would have a job that is fun, interesting, meaningful and also pays well. Many jobs in the traditionally male fields of trades, sciences and technology offer these qualities.

Some women eliminate trades work as an option for themselves because they think the physical requirements of the job will be too demanding. It is true that trades work is often very physical and you have to be in good physical shape to do it. If you are, there is no reason you can't do the work. You learn to lift properly, and when something is too heavy you ask for help. Very heavy things are moved by crane or hoist.

Another concern some women have about physical work as a career is that they're not sure they'll want to do it when they are 40 or 50. One of the great things about being skilled in a trade is that you can take these skills into related careers. Many trades people have gone on to contracting, teaching industrial education in high schools, colleges, or institutes, doing health and safety work, working in quality control or doing advocacy work for tradeswomen. The opportunities are many and varied.

More concrete information about these jobs can be had from books and publications found in the career information section of your local library or Canada Employment Centre (CEC)
(see page 26.)

Say you are looking for job descriptions in the trades, sciences and technologies. Some good books to look for are Job stories: I Like the Work, I Like the Money and Building the Future: Profiles of Canadian Women in Trades.
(See Other resources, page 51, for more information.)

Another good way to get an idea about what these jobs are like is to browse through the course calendars from universities, colleges, the BC Institute of Technology (BCIT) and the Pacific Marine Training Institute. This latter institute trains people who work on ships or do the many jobs around ports such as marine terminal operation, freight forwarders, customs brokers, traffic management, etc. Look at the names of programs, read the courses required and what they cover.

One thing to keep in mind is that these jobs are not all the same in terms of future job growth and good salary. When you find something you think you might be interested in, check with your local CEC to see if they anticipate a demand for that job in your area.

Once you have some idea of a field that might interest you, you can phone one of the contact groups listed below and ask to be connected with a woman working in that field. By talking to her, you'll get a much better idea of what the job involves and how it is for women.

Women are physically, mentally and emotionally capable of doing trade, science and technology jobs. It's just that these jobs have been a male preserve so they've been organized by men for men. The more women that enter these fields, the better off the women in them are going to be.