INITIATIVES of Women\u2019s Health Grampians to support female workers in the trades sector are being celebrated by a leading not-for-profit in the space.<\/p>\n
Five people working with WHG on their See What You Can Be and Act On Site programs have been named as finalists in charity, Empowered Women in Trades\u2019, annual awards.<\/p>\n
See What You Can Be seeks to address barriers and enablers for women and girls entering trades careers, and aims to highlight pathways into education, training, and jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn a casual basis, we employ women who are tradies and advocates, and four of them are finalists,\u201d See What You Can Be coordinator Ange van den Berg said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey speak at events, go and help with try-a-trade days at schools, sit on panels, and do all sorts of things to advocate for women in trades.<\/p>\n
\u201cAct on Site, our complimentary program led by Katja Fiedler, works with businesses in male-dominated industries such as construction and manufacturing to change workplace cultures.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrad Adams is finalist for the Culture Change Award, and is the manager of UGL. They have done whole organisation training, and have been implementing new policies and procedures over the past six months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms van den Berg said the recognition that advocacy and culture change work within these male-dominated industries is receiving is something to have pride in.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re also proud, as a regional centre, to be punching above our weight in these awards, and we acknowledge the great work of our friends at Empowered Women in Trades,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
WHG\u2019s work in this area has been undertaken for about two years, and Ms van den Berg said they\u2019re seeing shifts in conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve noticed a growing awareness of the need to have more women in trades,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re the only women\u2019s health service doing a program like this, but there is interest from others.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we bring to it is a gender lens and a real understanding of what some of the barriers can be for women getting into these roles.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Women\u2019s Health Grampians, we have expertise in gender equality, a really long history of culture change and offering training around bystander action and unconscious bias.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn applying that to these industries, and working from a strong evidence base, we\u2019re having such a great impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
Funding for these programs from the Federal Government\u2019s Office for Women will come to an end in June 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re exploring our options and doing some advocacy to get funding to continue our work because we\u2019re finally getting such traction and recognition,\u201d Ms van den Berg said.<\/p>\n
The Empowered Women in Trades Awards are in February of next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
INITIATIVES of Women\u2019s Health Grampians to support female workers in the trades sector are being celebrated by a leading not-for-profit in the space. Five people working with WHG on their See What You Can Be and Act On Site programs have been named as finalists in charity, Empowered Women in Trades\u2019, annual awards. See What […]<\/p>\n