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48 E L EC TR I C AL CONNEC T I ON
AU T UMN 20 1 7
GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN
A
s a child I loved watching my
dad fixing things about the
house; they’re some of my
earliest and fondest memories. I knew
I wanted to follow in his footsteps, as I
too loved using my hands to build and
fix things.
Years later, when it became time
for me to consider a career choice,
I assumed I would enter a career fit
for a woman - a ‘clean profession’ like
administration, nursing, teaching,
retail or child-care. As a teenager, the
distinction between a ’woman’s job‘
and a ’man’s job‘ couldn’t have been
any clearer.
And while we’d like to think the
situation has changed since those days,
the reality is this gender perception of
jobs has prevailed. Indeed, stereotypes
engrained in our children from a young
age have a huge impact on our future
perceptions. A study of teenagers
between 14 and 19 showed that despite
not knowing the responsibilities
involved in a certain job, nor the pay
or lifestyle, they were able to easily
identify ’girl jobs‘ from ’boy jobs’.
It’s no secret that trades are
traditionally thought of as boys’ jobs.
Even today, female apprenticeship
numbers are less than 2% in areas like
construction, electrical, automotive,
carpentry and plumbing. Bearing this
in mind, it really wasn’t much of a
surprise that I didn’t follow my gut and
pursue an electrical apprenticeship
from the get-go.
Looking back on my career, I really
am a prime example of how persuasive
these gender stereotypes can be. Like
many other young girls fresh out of
school, I went straight into nursing. A
hands-on role that involves plenty of
problem-solving, I thought it would be
the perfect fit. But it wasn’t to be – after
just a couple of years I left and moved
onto reception work, before I once again
quit for what I thought was my dream
job, working with pre-school children.
The stereotype that being a tradie
was only for men meant I never really
REBECCAMAIR
REGALES
ELECTRICAL CONNECTION
WITH THE
STORY OF HER JOURNEY AS A
FEMALE ELECTRICIAN.
BEC SPARKY