IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/zbw/ijrvet/197999.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Attracting women into male-dominated trades: Views of young women in Australia

Author

Listed:
  • Struthers, Karen
  • Strachan, Glenda

Abstract

Context: The persistent low female participation in male-dominated trades is not attracting a high level of public attention and policy action. There are determined, yet adhoc actions by advocates in response to evidence that economic benefits will be derived for industry and women through increased female participation in the male-dominated trades. Occupational segregation of the trades remains resistant to change. Methods: To better understand the barriers limiting female participation in the male-dominated trades from the perspective of young women, this PhD study features interviews with female secondary students, complemented by interviews with industry stakeholders and a quantitative analysis of VET and trade participation data. The three primary research questions are: 1) What is the extent of gender segregation in vocational education and training (VET) and typically male-dominated trades in Australia, and how does this compare internationally? 2) Why do very few female students choose male-dominated trades as their job pathway? 3) What can be done, particularly in the education and training sectors, to increase female interest in, and take-up of, the male-dominated trades? Findings: The results of this research showed that the composition of trade-qualified females in male-dominated trades is persistently low at 2-3%. The views of young women affirmed the evidence showing system-wide barriers limit female interest in these trades. Most influential is that gender stereotypes of work are set by Year 10 and that female enrolment in Maths (a pre-requisite for male-dominated careers) is low; these trades are seen as 'jobs for the boys who don't do academic,' and the fear of intimidation and harassment deters young women. Low enrolment of female students in male-dominated trade courses indicates that this entrenched occupational segregation of the trades will remain resistant to change for some time to come. Conclusion: The findings indicate that ad hoc responses to overcome gender segregation of the trades is not effective. Influenced by systems theory and a social ecological model (SEM) of change, the researchers promote the need for sustained, nation-wide awareness and action involving VET and school sectors, industry, government and trade unions to attract more women into male-dominated trades.

Suggested Citation

  • Struthers, Karen & Strachan, Glenda, 2019. "Attracting women into male-dominated trades: Views of young women in Australia," International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training (IJRVET), European Research Network in Vocational Education and Training (VETNET), European Educational Research Association, vol. 6(1), pages 1-19.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ijrvet:197999
    DOI: 10.13152/IJRVET.6.1.1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/197999/1/1667356976.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.13152/IJRVET.6.1.1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Toppin, Ian, 2018. "Who is going to build the wall? A building trades crisis in the U.S.A," International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training (IJRVET), European Research Network in Vocational Education and Training (VETNET), European Educational Research Association, vol. 5(1), pages 64-76.
    2. -, 1986. "Agenda = Agenda," Series Históricas 8749, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ferm, Lisa & Gustavsson, Maria, 2021. "Gendered vocational identities: Female students' strategies for identity formation during workplace-based learning in male-dominated work," International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training (IJRVET), European Research Network in Vocational Education and Training (VETNET), European Educational Research Association, vol. 8(3), pages 334-354.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ayranci, Evren, 2010. "Family involvement in and institutionalization of family businesses: A research," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center (PRADEC), vol. 3(3), pages 1-22, October.
    2. Agarwalla, Astha, 2011. "Agglomeration Economies and Productivity Growth in India," IIMA Working Papers WP2011-01-08, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    3. Hausknost, Daniel & Grima, Nelson & Singh, Simron Jit, 2017. "The political dimensions of Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES): Cascade or stairway?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 109-118.
    4. Nelson, Edward, 2017. "Reaffirming the Influence of Milton Friedman on U.K. Economic Policy," Working Papers 2017-01, University of Sydney, School of Economics, revised Feb 2017.
    5. Waqar Ahmad Saleem Qazi, 2017. "Impact of Workforce Development on Organizational Effectiveness: Evidence from Pakistani Public-Sector Organizations," Business & Economic Review, Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, Pakistan, vol. 9(3), pages 123-154, September.
    6. Raitio, Kaisa, 2013. "Discursive institutionalist approach to conflict management analysis — The case of old-growth forest conflicts on state-owned land in Finland," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 97-103.
    7. Schmidt, Susanne K., 2002. "Die Folgen der europäischen Integration für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Wandel durch Verflechtung," MPIfG Discussion Paper 02/4, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    8. David P Carter & Christopher M Weible & Saba N Siddiki & Xavier Basurto, 2016. "Integrating core concepts from the institutional analysis and development framework for the systematic analysis of policy designs: An illustration from the US National Organic Program regulation," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 28(1), pages 159-185, January.
    9. Gillespie, Stuart & van den Bold, Mara, 2015. "Stories of change in nutrition: A tool pool:," IFPRI discussion papers 1494, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    10. Miriam Hartlapp & Julia Metz & Christian Rauh, 2010. "The agenda set by the EU Commission: the result of balanced or biased aggregation of positions?," LEQS – LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series 21, European Institute, LSE.
    11. Buitrago R., Ricardo E. & Barbosa Camargo, María Inés, 2021. "Institutions, institutional quality, and international competitiveness: Review and examination of future research directions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 423-435.
    12. Gerritsen, Rolf & Abbott, Jacky, 1989. "Again The Lucky Country?: Australian Rural Policy in 1988 and 1989," Review of Marketing and Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 58(01), pages 1-17, April.
    13. Flinchbaugh, Barry L., 0. "The 1985 Farm Bill And Future Commodity Policy Education," Increasing Understanding of Public Problems and Policies, Farm Foundation.
    14. Tamara R. Lave & Lester B. Lave, 1991. "Public Perception of the Risks of Floods: Implications for Communication," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(2), pages 255-267, June.
    15. Zyglidopoulos, Stelios C. & Georgiadis, Andreas P. & Carroll, Craig E. & Siegel, Donald S., 2012. "Does media attention drive corporate social responsibility?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(11), pages 1622-1627.
    16. Khavul, Susanna & Pérez-Nordtvedt, Liliana & Wood, Eric, 2010. "Organizational entrainment and international new ventures from emerging markets," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 104-119, January.
    17. Blind, Georg, 2015. "Behavioural rules: Veblen, Nelson-Winter, Oström and beyond," MPRA Paper 66866, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. White, Thomas A., 1992. "Landholder Cooperation For Sustainable Upland Watershed Management: A Theoretical Review Of The Problems And Prospects," Working Papers 11887, Environmental and Natural Resources Policy Training Project.
    19. Mukul G Asher, 1989. "TAX REFORMS IN EAST ASIAN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: Motivations, directions, and implications," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 3(1), pages 37-61, March.
    20. repec:iim:iimawp:13106 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Sabine C. Carey, 2010. "The Use of Repression as a Response to Domestic Dissent," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 58(1), pages 167-186, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:ijrvet:197999. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://vetnetsite.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.