While other industries have moved closer to gender parity in recent decades, automotive and diesel maintenance remains very much a male-dominated industry.
Women account for less than 10 percent of the people working in automotive repair and maintenance, according to data compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The numbers for the industries that depend on service trucks are similar: in mining, construction and manufacturing, the percent of women in the workforce tops out at less than 30 percent.
With a combination of outreach, training and job connections, some companies and organizations are trying to push those numbers up.
Women Building Futures, a nonprofit group based in Edmonton, Alberta, offers training programs that introduce women to a long list of trades: carpentry, plumbing, electrical, steamfitting and pipefitting, welding and sheet metal. It also provides training for women seeking to become Class 1 drivers, among other automotive options.
The group works with employers to design the training — and set up internship opportunities that often lead to jobs. Western Truck Body, an Edmonton-based manufacturer, has hired more than 15 graduates of the program since 2004. Several have worked as welders.
Megan Bates, Women Building Futures’ industry relations manager, said more than 90 percent of the program’s graduates go to work in the field they’ve selected. And increasingly, she said, they are headed into workplaces that are doing more to ensure that everyone feels valued.
“In terms of diversity, hiring women and other underrepresented groups isn’t going to solve that issue,” she said. “It has to be hand in hand with creating inclusive work environments.”
Particularly in industries where workers are scarce, companies are realizing that they must do more to attract a broad spectrum of workers — and acknowledge the issues that might be keeping them out. Bates said women frequently face barriers like childcare, or schedules that don’t allow for the kind of flexibility needed to care for family members.
“If they want to attract 50 percent of the workforce that is here and local, they need to be coming to the table with solutions,” she said.
Even a small jump in the number of women in some industries could have a massive impact. Looking at retirements anticipated across Canada in construction and related trades over the next five years, Bates said women could be key to filling those gaps. If just one percent of women went into those roles, they could fill 25 percent of the job vacancies, she said.
– Erin Golden
Erin Golden is a writer based in Minnesota.
