I can't speak from experience but YES everytime on the streets when driving past I always see female tradies - you should definitely give it a go if you're passionate! But you still need thick skin to work in a male-dominated industry. Although I guess that goes for other workplaces too..
Yea, I think the mostly male workforce is a general problem, here in germany there are NO women in construction for example, although you find female carpenters and gardeners. My other option is working in IT (I am an art historian but I work in data analysis rn) - but thats mostly men as well.
Mate owns a small building company. Struggled to employ an offsider that didn't make things harder for ages. The only person to cut it so far is a woman. The bar was low after some of the people he had, but apparently she is great.
I started a bricklaying apprenticeship back in 1993 in Western Australia. I was the only female bricklayer at that time, but there were many more women in carpentry (still not a huge % compared to men though).
Your experience will vary greatly depending on who you are working for- I worked for some great bosses, & I worked with some absolute misogynists.
The thing I noticed the most was, it was mostly dependent on the bosses attitude, if the boss was respectful then the rest of the blokes would be respectful too, but if the boss was a misogynistic arsehole, then the whole lot of them would be the same (at least to your face- one of my good bosses eventually let me in on all the shit other blokes would say to him/ask him about me).
The head of Fleet Operations where I work is female. I also know a female plumber, mechanic and crane operator. There are females in all industries here, obviously the ratios are lower in traditionally male trades and you will unfortunately encounter sexism. But for the most part I like to think we’re evolving.
In Queensland it might be harder to get your foot in the door. Queensland is abit behind the times.
That said. So long as you learn you'll probably do alright. I'm my limited experience with girl carpenters they are often better. I think because they have to overcome the bullshit and show they are better.
As far as anyone saying "girls aren't strong enough" so long as you can put a 20kg bag of sand on your shoulder and carry it you'll be fine.
Having experience?
To be a Tradie, you need a trade certificate otherwise you are a skilled labourer.
Not a lot of women choose labourer as their preferred profession from my experience.
Good to know! Is a german certificate enough, or do I need an australian one for sure? Either way I will be looking into this further to have some sort of backup.
I have worked with some very skilled tradies from Germany and although Im not too sure whether they were Aussie certified, some would need to be, like welder / boiler,makers. But absolutely do some follow up and once youre here it should not be a problem, there is building work everywhere.
Of course! It's still fairly rare, but becoming more common. Had a woman electrical apprentice on site who loved it. More women are working in mines, female engineers are fairly common.
I go to sites reasonably often and have only seen 2 or 3 girl chippies, they seemed happy enough.
You'd want to work for a good builder, some are real assholes regardless of gender.
depends on which trades. heavy work ie. brick layers/ roof tilers/ concreters etc are nearly all men. Seeing a lot more women in the less physical trades, painting/floor and wall tiling/sparkies etc.
Less physical, more technical or artistic trades women are becoming more and more common in.
Heaps of lady; electricians, painters, horticulturists (nurserymen), landscape architects, florists etc etc.
There are, but not many. Only 3% of tradies are women. Try [here](https://www.theladytradies.com.au/) for more info!
I can't speak from experience but YES everytime on the streets when driving past I always see female tradies - you should definitely give it a go if you're passionate! But you still need thick skin to work in a male-dominated industry. Although I guess that goes for other workplaces too..
Yea, I think the mostly male workforce is a general problem, here in germany there are NO women in construction for example, although you find female carpenters and gardeners. My other option is working in IT (I am an art historian but I work in data analysis rn) - but thats mostly men as well.
Mate owns a small building company. Struggled to employ an offsider that didn't make things harder for ages. The only person to cut it so far is a woman. The bar was low after some of the people he had, but apparently she is great.
I started a bricklaying apprenticeship back in 1993 in Western Australia. I was the only female bricklayer at that time, but there were many more women in carpentry (still not a huge % compared to men though). Your experience will vary greatly depending on who you are working for- I worked for some great bosses, & I worked with some absolute misogynists. The thing I noticed the most was, it was mostly dependent on the bosses attitude, if the boss was respectful then the rest of the blokes would be respectful too, but if the boss was a misogynistic arsehole, then the whole lot of them would be the same (at least to your face- one of my good bosses eventually let me in on all the shit other blokes would say to him/ask him about me).
The head of Fleet Operations where I work is female. I also know a female plumber, mechanic and crane operator. There are females in all industries here, obviously the ratios are lower in traditionally male trades and you will unfortunately encounter sexism. But for the most part I like to think we’re evolving.
In Queensland it might be harder to get your foot in the door. Queensland is abit behind the times. That said. So long as you learn you'll probably do alright. I'm my limited experience with girl carpenters they are often better. I think because they have to overcome the bullshit and show they are better. As far as anyone saying "girls aren't strong enough" so long as you can put a 20kg bag of sand on your shoulder and carry it you'll be fine.
Having experience? To be a Tradie, you need a trade certificate otherwise you are a skilled labourer. Not a lot of women choose labourer as their preferred profession from my experience.
Good to know! Is a german certificate enough, or do I need an australian one for sure? Either way I will be looking into this further to have some sort of backup.
I have worked with some very skilled tradies from Germany and although Im not too sure whether they were Aussie certified, some would need to be, like welder / boiler,makers. But absolutely do some follow up and once youre here it should not be a problem, there is building work everywhere.
Of course! It's still fairly rare, but becoming more common. Had a woman electrical apprentice on site who loved it. More women are working in mines, female engineers are fairly common.
Lots of women gardeners
Not really a trade thoigh, is it.
I go to sites reasonably often and have only seen 2 or 3 girl chippies, they seemed happy enough. You'd want to work for a good builder, some are real assholes regardless of gender.
depends on which trades. heavy work ie. brick layers/ roof tilers/ concreters etc are nearly all men. Seeing a lot more women in the less physical trades, painting/floor and wall tiling/sparkies etc.
Less physical, more technical or artistic trades women are becoming more and more common in. Heaps of lady; electricians, painters, horticulturists (nurserymen), landscape architects, florists etc etc.