The irony of smashing stereotypes when you’re a woman working in a male-dominant industry is you will be stereotyped by your sexual preference and childhood.
One of the first questions I was asked at TAFE by another apprentice was if I was a lesbian. When I told him I wasn’t, he told me I was the first female tradie he had come across who wasn’t gay. I asked how many female tradies he had come across and he admitted only one. But, because she was gay, he assumed all female tradies would be the same. I thought the assumption was interesting. I never thought my sexual orientation would be up for discussion at TAFE. And that all female tradies should fit a certain mould.
The reality is as soon as you do something different, you will be judged. People will want to diagnose why you’ve chosen to go a certain way so they can comprehend why you’ve made the decision to go against the grain.
I’d like to think that through education and awareness, one’s sexual orientation shouldn’t matter on why certain careers are chosen when they are against the industry norm.
I also hope that girls don’t think they need to be a ‘tomboy’ in order to choose a trade as a career.
That generalization is old thinking. It shouldn’t matter who you are or what you do that determines your decision to work in a male dominant career (and vice versa for guys working in a heavily female dominant industry). If you have a genuine interest in the job and think it’s a job you’d enjoy working in, I’d say that that’s enough motivation to give it a go.
I also don’t think you should act in a certain way to be more accepted. Wanting to belong is a general human need and we all want to get along with our colleagues on the site, but not to the detriment of our own standards and beliefs.
One of the best traits you can bring to the worksite is yourself. Just be you. No pretenses, no acting. Don’t succumb to pressure that you should be a certain way or act ‘manly’ to fit in on the construction site. There is no blueprint of what a tradie should be. Pretending to be someone you’re not just so you’re accepted onsite is a hard act to keep. Being true to yourself is the most important quality you can bring to the construction site.
So if you are wanting to work in construction, don’t let fear or pressure tell you you should be a certain way. And certainly don’t let stereotype classifications discourage you from taking a plunge into your trade career.
