Girls Can Too gives sneak peak into career in trades

Girls Can Too exposes young women to a career in trade. Jim Griffiths spoke with recent graduates about the opportunities the program presents.

Three girls standing in front of a banner. Three girls standing in front of a banner.
Image: Ausgrid’s Kesaia Takau with Emma and Gabriella at the Meadowbank TAFE event.

Ninety young women recently graduated from the Girls Can Too program.

Girls Can Too is a week-long taster course, designed to show girls what is involved in a trade, as part of the Regional Industry Education Partnerships program.

The students were exposed to electrical, plumbing, carpentry and sign writing trades.

Before graduation certificates were handed out, participants joined 10 industry partners for a ‘speed networking’ event at Meadowbank TAFE.

Year 10 student Ella, from JJ Cahill Memorial High School, said the week had shown her work opportunities she could potentially pursue in the future.

“It’s definitely opened doors to stuff that a lot of us probably would never have looked at twice,” she said.

Gabriella, a Year 10 student at Casula High School, found the large-scale challenges of electrotechnology appealing.

“There are so many aspects to it, like solar, wind turbined and you can even go into the mines,” she said.

“There are a lot of opportunities and I really like the hands-on aspect and that it's not very demanding on your body, like some other trades.”

Many of the girls, including Ella and Gabriela, were attracted to the possibility of working outdoors and using their hands to make, build and repair things.

Kesaia Takau, an apprentice operations program manager with industry partner Ausgrid, said the program was an outstanding opportunity for women to get into non-traditional employment fields.

“What I love about Girls Can Too, is that they don't realise that they’re interested unless they have exposure or know what it is. It removes that initial barrier,” she said.

“Girls just need to be exposed to the opportunities, whether it’s electrical, plumbing or carpentry. Girls Can Too gives them that exposure.”

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