<div class="block">Elizabeth Pearson, executive career and success coach, joined &#39;Stretching Your Dollar&#39; to provide tips to women looking to explore trade careers, particularly as the number of women in those roles is overwhelmingly disproportionate compared to men. &quot;I always think you should be aligned with your passions. First start there,&quot; Pearson said.</div>

Stretching Your Dollar

Stretching Your Dollar: Getting More Women Involved in Trade Jobs

And so today we asked you if you work in a skilled trade industry, 14% said, you don't know what it is. 40% said you do. 43% don't and then 4% want to. So thank you for those who engaged and voted today is National Tradesman Day. And though women are a large part of the workforce NPR reports that they only make up about 3% of trade jobs. So joining me now to discuss how women can get more involved in these skilled jobs, is career expert, Elizabeth Pearson, Elizabeth, it's great to see you. Good to see you again. So for those who aren't familiar with what a trade job is according to our poll, what exactly is it? Well, it's any job that requires a specialized set of skills or training to be performed. And I think, you know, you might immediately just think of like, oh a mechanic or a carpenter, but it's also bakers, hair stylists, um people in manufacturing. So even jewelers. So I think that, you know, it's a little bit broader than some may immediately think. Why do you think it is that women make up such a small percentage of these workers. Well, I mean, I think there's some external conditioning going on. There's also some gender stereotypes. A lot of times we think of an electrician and we immediately just kind of defer to, oh, it must be a guy, you know. And so I think when women are grown in that environment, it's not something that's ever really talked about. I was never, you know, it was never brought up to me in high school um or anything like that, it was just assumed that those were kind of jobs for men. So I think a lot of the conditioning and the gender stereotypes have a big role in why we don't see more women in these jobs. Well, for women who might be interested, Elizabeth, how can they pursue a career as a trades person? Well, you know, me, I always think you should be aligned with your passions. So I think first start there, is there anything that really kind of interest you? I actually have a really good friend who's an amazing carpenter and her mother was a carpenter. And so I think lean into the things that you like, but then do some research, look at local trade schools, apprenticeship programs and then see if there's anybody in your network or your extended network who is actually performing some of these duties and ask them to mentor you or even just have a Zoom or a coffee and just get some more insight on what their day to day is like. What are the benefits that may come along with working some of these jobs for women? Well, right now it's easy to get a job. So there are a lot of people out there who are maybe having, you know, the COVID epiphany of like, I don't really love what I'm doing. Maybe I should be doing something else. This is a wonderful time to explore because there's a lot of availability, not only that, it provides jobs out um job security, uh opportunities for advanced and with some of them, you can even travel on somebody else's dime. So I say just look into it. Yeah, that's good advice, right? Pursue your passion. See what's available out there. One vital trade job is working in construction. The US Bureau of Labor says that only 10% of construction workers are women. What can be done to bridge that employment gap? Well, I think more women need to get a little bit more curious. I think, you know, we see all of these shows like the HGTV shows and things with like all these remodeling houses and things and I think women might default to, oh, I could just be an interior designer on that piece. No, you can get your hands dirty. Like lean in. There is a huge need for carpentry and um GC right now. So I say lean into it again, ask people who are doing those jobs, what some opportunities are, maybe even shadow them for a day. But I think that, you know, we need to think outside the box here with what women can do because we have a lot to offer. Yeah, I, I agree with that wholeheartedly. Elizabeth, you know, the buzziest term of this year is artificial intelligence. And I think all sorts of people considering whether A I might take their jobs. So on that front, any sort of insight into the longevity of some of these skilled trades, worker jobs that might pay off for women and others down the road. Yeah, absolutely. I think that especially if you get into something that you're really passionate about or you actually enjoy doing, there can be some really high upsides first off how wonderful to actually be able to use your hands and see something come to fruition to actually create something. There can be some opportunity for advancement. It can be a little bit different than having a virtual desk job where you're kind of plugging away. And at the end of the day, you know, the relief or the reward is that you get to close your laptop versus actually building baking, doing somebody's hair, being in a cosmetology trade. Those are things where you get an immediate benefit and I don't know about you, but my dad was an electrician his entire career and he's sitting pretty right now. Those jobs still sometimes offer pensions. He loved what he did and at the end of the day he could walk away from it. So, I think there's a huge upside to be able to disconnect and have some work life balance. I like that. Ok. Anything that women should be aware of if they are looking to become a skilled trades person. Yeah. Just know there's probably gonna be some discrimination that's still out there. There are gonna be some glass ceilings to break through. Also take a look at like physicality of the role. Is it something that you feel comfortable doing? So I think just kind of go in with eyes open that it is such a small percentage that you're representing in this field. So there probably will need to be a little bit of time and compassion and empathy for the people around you to get used to seeing you there and taking you seriously, but advocate for yourself and stick with it. All right, executive career and success coach Elizabeth Pearson. Elizabeth. Always a pleasure. Thank you.