‘I think it’s empowering’: Junior high girls prove they can cut it in skilled trades

Junior high girls from the Calgary area traded pencils for tools on Wednesday at a school event aimed at exploring career options in the trades.

More than 100 students in grades 7, 8 and 9 gathered at SAIT for the Exploring Skilled Trades for Girls event, which gave them hands-on opportunities in several industries, including welding, carpentry and automotive repair.

“(There are) just a bunch of these fun skills, and (I’m) seeing if I want to do something like this when I’m older,” said Shayleen Lemon, a Grade 9 student who enjoyed trying the spray guns and airbrushes used to paint vehicles.

The event aims to expose them to career options they might not have considered and to reduce stigma.

“Just because they’re girls doesn’t mean that they can’t do a trade,” said Dominika Johnson, a cabinetmaking instructor at SAIT.

“I feel like there’s a lot of stigma that they can’t do it, and I hope they can see that that’s not actually how it is.”

Only about seven per cent of skilled trades workers are women, according to Statistics Canada.

Giving girls a chance to try trades at a young age could change that, which could also help fill employment gaps.

“The numbers coming out around youth unemployment right now are not terrific and same thing—there’s not enough skilled people coming into the trades,” said Roz Wick, community initiatives associate director at SAIT.

“We hope by sparking that interest early for some of these girls, they get a head start potentially on deciding what they might want to do.”

Students can also sign up to take apprenticeship courses at SAIT while they’re in high school.

“It’s a dual-credit program,” said Wick.

“Once they are in high school, they actually can come and participate in the entire first period in a number of skilled trades.”

More females are enrolling in trades, but they still only make up about six per cent of SAIT’s apprenticeship students.

“When I first started, there wasn’t much. One, maybe two, for a while, and now it’s going up a lot more,” said Johnson, who has been an instructor at SAIT for six years.

Female mentors, hands-on experience and trailblazing opportunities might open the door for others, like Grade 9 student Kaycee Brokomsky.

“Maybe,” she said.

“I really like working with my hands rather than just sitting at a desk.”

She said her father works in the trades, and that a lack of females in the industry only makes her consider it more.

“I really like the smell of wood. My dad’s a carpenter, and I just think it’s really interesting. I want to learn this skill set,” said Brokomsky.

“I think it’s empowering.”

SAIT also offers a free online course for all Alberta junior high students to explore skilled trades.