LISTEN: The future of trades is looking more female than ever

With ever-advancing technologies and artificial intelligence creeping into the workforce, job security for current and future generations has never been more worrying. CKNW’s Future of Work series focuses on how British Columbia’s job market is going to evolve and how to help workers get the best possible employment opportunities in the future.

The role of women in the workforce has changed significantly in the last several decades, but while it’s now commonplace to work alongside female doctors and lawyers, one field still lags: the trades.

But there are many skilled women out there working to change that.

READ MORE: Women account for just 4.5% of skilled trade workers in Canada: report

On this instalment of CKNW’s Future of Work series Tamara Pongcraz, program head for BCIT’s Trades Discovery program joined host Lynda Steele to talk about some of the challenges and benefits of working in trades as a women.

Pongcraz says there’s no doubt there is still discrimination in the field, but she says women are helping to change the ‘old boys club’ mentality.

READ MORE: What to know before signing up for a trades program

And she said those changes come with concrete benefits. While the average Canadian woman earns about 72 cents to the dollar for her male counterpart, in the trades Pongcraz says it’s more like 98 cents to the dollar.

She said women also get the benefit of seeing the concrete benefits of their work, helping to literally build their community and the chance to be a positive role model to their children.

LISTEN: The future of trades is looking more female than ever