Success Strategies for Women and Trades: Forum

Comic Strip: Wobinna & Friends: The Joys of Shop Class!
Illustrations and story by Dawn Palfreyman
2012 © wobuilt.com

Save the date
March 6, 2012
Women Trade Forum
An event for those who want more strategies to accelerate women’s employment in non-traditional trades.

Success Strategies for Women and Trades

Showcasing and enhancing best practices
Illuminating ideas to accelerate change

Date: Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Centennial College, Ashtonbee Campus
75 Ashtonbee Rd., Toronto, ON, M1L 4N4

Coordinated by the Women’s Access to Trades Network**, and hosted by Centennial College, with support from the Province of Ontario and Canadian Women’s Foundation.

Who should attend?
This event will benefit all those who want more women working in the non-traditional trades:

• Employers seeking more women and skilled workers
• Labour groups looking to include more women in trades and apprenticeship
• Tradeswomen looking for more compatible workplace
• Groups accountable for equity, diversity, labour force development, productivity, poverty reduction
• Colleges, training centres looking to increase women in trades programs
• Secondary schools seeking more career options for girls
• Women looking for better paid jobs

What will the day offer?

• Success strategies in recruiting, training and employment
• Conditions for success -what we need to do more of
• Opportunity to envision what needs to change for more change to occur
• Update on status of College of Trades
• Emerging opportunities for change – a provincial women’s access to trades network

Why are we doing this now?

• Advancement on this issue is still a work in progress
• The demand for skilled trades’ workers is increasing
• We need to collaborate, link up and scale up in order to achieve a critical mass of women in trades
• Women need access to the full range of well paid jobs. It’s in our social contract.

Women’s access to trades is about…
women’s equitable participation in the economy.

• And reducing child poverty.
• And improving labour force development.
• And increasing productivity in a global economy.

**The Women’s Access to Trades Network is a collaboration of organizations dedicated to accelerating women’s participation in non-traditional trades to increase women’s access to good jobs and decrease their risk of poverty. Members include MicroSkills, On Track Career and Employment Services, The Centre for Skills Development and Training, George Brown College, YWCA, South Asian Women’s Rights Organization, Centennial College, Canadian Association of Women in Construction, IBEW Local 153 Women’s Committee, Skills for Change.

links:
about.com: Non-Traditional Employment for Women: Chipping Away At the Glass Ceiling
By Dawn Rosenberg McKay, About.com Guide

WIL National Mentorship Program: 2012 · Vancouver · Toronto · Montreal: Toronto Mentorship Program Application Packages

itabc.ca: The British Columbia Industry Training Authority: : Women in Construction Trades: A Strategic Plan to Promote Women
Prepared by The Women in Leadership Foundation, WIL, November 16, 2007

alis.alberta.ca: Career Planning - Education - Jobs: Women in Non-Traditional Occupations: Stories to Inspire

swc-cfc.gc.ca: Status of Women Canada: Statistics: Women in Canada 2010-2011 - A Gender-based Statistical Report

statcan.gc.ca: Statistics Canada: Women in Non-traditional Occupations and Fields of Study
"As was the case for occupation, women have made fewer inroads into non-traditional fields of study in the trades. The top five trades in which men had earned a trades certificate accounted for 79% of men in the trades in 2006. In these top-five male-dominated trades, women accounted for 2% of those with trades certificates in mechanics and repairers and in construction trades; for 3% of certificates in the precision production trades; for 7%, in transportation and materials moving; and for 10%, in engineering technology."
by Kathryn McMullen, Jason Gilmore and Christel Le Petit

employmentjourney.com: Women in non-traditional trades and technology: raising awareness
"Trade HERizons is a program coordinated by Women’s Network PEI. The aim is to encourage women to consider a career in trades and give women the support needed to make that transition."
by Gloria Welton

thecentre.on.ca: Local skilled trades training program helps women achieve their dreams
by mcdonaldm

skillsontario.com: “Women in Non-Traditional Roles – Putting Our Skills to Work”
Putting Our Skills to Work - Women Working in the Skilled Trades and Technologies

theglasshammer.com: The Glass Hammer is an online community designed for women executives in financial services, law and business.

wobuilt.com: Community: Mentoring: The Wo-Built Career Advancement Program
Our mission is to help women enter and succeed in the skilled trades. We hope to open more doors and provide more opportunities for women who strive for a career in the building/finishing trades.

wobuilt.com/blog: Helping Women in the Building Trades