NICEIC has today launched its ‘Jobs for the girls’ campaign aimed at encouraging more women into the electrical contracting industry.
Although women represent at least 50% of the UK workforce, they are severely under-represented in most trade professions – many of which are facing huge skills gap shortages.
NICEIC aims to highlight the exciting opportunities available to females within the electrical industry and dispel the myth that trade professions are a viable career path for men only.
“This image of our industry as an exclusive one is a dangerous one. If we are to plug the skills shortage gap then we can’t afford to dismiss half the working population,” says NICEIC’s Chief Executive Officer Emma McCarthy.
“There is now a good business case to employ more women. Consumers sometimes prefer to hire female contractors and our research highlighted that some female homeowners admit to feeling intimidated when having to deal with a male electrician.”
In 2007/2008 women made up just one per cent of Electrotechnical apprentice starts while recent figures indicate that less than one in every thousand electrical contractors is female.
Eleanor Bell, who runs her own contracting business in Cornwall, is one of those few. She gave up her previous job as a Showroom Sales Manager, for an exclusive Design Company in Chelsea, to retrain as an electrician in 2008. Her work now covers everything from small jobs around the home to complete rewires of business premises.
She says: “In my experience, people are surprised and delighted to find a female face in what has always been predominantly a male industry and tell me that they feel very comfortable to have me working in their home.”
Female-only firm Elecchicks was set up last year by Leah Burman and Christine Vaghela, after they spotted a gap in the market for female contractors.
The duo’s company is Part P registered and undertakes all types of residential electrical work. They now spend three days a week working as electricians in the North London area where they have impressed customers with their punctuality, skill and professionalism.
“We discovered that there aren’t many female electricians trading in the UK and there was definitely a place in the market for Elecchicks,” says Leah.
“There are not enough women going into these trades and we have had a great reaction from the men.”
As part of its campaign, NICEIC is working on a practical guide to help understand equality issues and give guidance to employers. It is also hoping to recruit more young females to its recently launched Apprentice Academy.
The academy run in partnership with Bedford College aims to provide young students with the necessary training and skills to meet the demanding challenges of the industry.
“Our research suggests there is a very real interest from young women wanting to pursue this type of career and we hope more ladies will come forward and help to even the balance in what is currently an industry short on skills,” adds Emma.
“As a woman in a senior position within the industry I feel a responsibility to contribute to its growth and development in a tangible way. I love my job and have enjoyed a great career in the electrical world and want others to see the excellent opportunities available.”
Log on to: niceic.com/contractor/jobs-for-the-girls for more information about the campaign along with case studies of female contractors already employed as electricians.