Yukon Women in Trades and Technology holds workshops for girls

A Yukon group is giving teenage girls hands-on experience in carpentry, plumbing andelectricalto encourage more women to choose a career in the trades.

Yukon Women in Trades and Technology (YWITT)had morethan100 Yukon high school girls in Grades 8 to 12,building, tuning and fixing in after-schoolworkshops heldlast week. Womenrepresentjust five per centof all skilled trades workers in the country,according to Status of Women Canada.

FaithFortier, a student at F.H. Collins,tested her electronicsknowledge ata workshop at Raven Recycling.

"It began as a laptop and we're taking it apartand hopefully when it's apart, the pieces will be apart and they can recycle them," she says.

YWITT wants to see more young women entering the trades after high school, butFortiersays there are stereotypes to overcome.

"Lots of women feel really insecure and theydon't get paid as much as men,"she says, because of a belief that menare "technically more capable."

Fortiersays that will change with time.

"It's good they try toencourage morewomento take these jobs."

Anotherworkshop, this time atYuKonstruct,had students building a wooden kitchen table.

"I like it. I like learning how to build things. I think it's cool," saysClaire Campbell, a Grade 8 student at F.H. Collins.

Some students weren't asconvinced.

"I don't know about a job... but I think it would be a fun hobby," saysEmikoTeramura.

AylaKempton,a carpenter and board member with YWITT, says women were few and far between when she started her career.

"Now there are far more coming in," she says. "This [program] is an introduction to a vast array of trades, so that they can get just a taste and aninterest,so they can focus where their energy will be in the future."

Kemptonsays there are still barriers for women entering trades but says those who pursue a skill in demand may find a stable career.