When Grace McGrath was told she should be “doing something in the kitchen” instead of a trade, it made her blood boil.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
From an early age, the Wagga teen knew she would become a builder.
It is the reason the year-nine student at The Riverina Anglican College eagerly jumped on board a six-week Girls in Trades course this year.
But Grace said she knew building a career in the male-dominated industry could be challenging, due to job-based stereotypes.
It comes after the 15-year-old was asked why she was wearing a tradie’s shirt after class one day.
When Grace explained she was participating in a TAFE course at the Wagga campus, the man said: “shouldn’t you be doing something in the kitchen”.
“It made my blood boil,” Grace said. “I was so angry.”
The budding-builder and fellow course participant Shanika McLachlan said they were determined to follow their dream and break down job-based stereotypes.
“I’ve always loved working with my hands,” Grace said.
“In my spare time I’m up in the shed, building things with scrap pieces of wood.”
For Shanika, time was always best spent fixing engines and tinkering with machines.
The fellow year-nine student said she had grown up in a family of mechanics and felt most at home greasing parts and changing oil filters.
For the past six weeks, both girls, alongside eight other high school students from across Wagga, spent one day a week taste-testing plumbing, construction, painting and decorating, automotive, welding and electrical fields.
It was a city first.
It is an experience the girls said had inspired them to follow their passion, with both students intending to apply for apprenticeships at the end of next year.
Both Grace and Shanika said they intended to rise above gender-based stereotypes and encouraged other young women to do the same.
It follows a NSW study that revealed women made up less than two percent of construction, automotive and electrical tradespeople in 2013.
The Family and Community Services-lead report found women made up only 1.3 per cent of electricians – Australia’s largest single trade occupation.
With an ongoing State-wide trade skills shortage, according to the Department of Jobs and Small Business, both Grace and Shanika said it was time to break down gender-based job stereotypes and enter the 21st century.
