1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,960 Speaker 1: We know that a Women in Trade's mentoring program, Well, 2 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:07,039 Speaker 1: it was launched at CDU on International Women's Day yesterday. 3 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:10,520 Speaker 1: The new program connects young women to other women already 4 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: working in the trade sector upon starting their apprenticeship. Now 5 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: joining us on the line to tell us more about 6 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 1: the initiative is Charles Dale University's Employability Programs Officer Caroline Thompson. 7 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:26,119 Speaker 2: Hi, Caroline, Hi, how you go? 8 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, good, Great to have you on the show. How 9 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 1: did this program come about? 10 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,600 Speaker 2: So we realized that with a lot of new students 11 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 2: starting their apprenticeships through the strength government initiative to have 12 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 2: more TAFE enrollments, that we hope that there's going to 13 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 2: be a lot of new female students coming and starting 14 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:48,559 Speaker 2: their apprenticeships with us. And we're focusing specifically in the 15 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 2: Women in Trades Mentoring program on those non traditional female trades, 16 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 2: so things like automotive and transport, electro technology, plumbing, environmental studies, 17 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 2: engineering and construction. So these might be disciplines where there 18 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 2: might only be one female in the classroom or one 19 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:07,679 Speaker 2: female in the workplace. So we thought it was really 20 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 2: important that we offer these young women support and encouragement 21 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:15,400 Speaker 2: and give them a safe space that they can discuss 22 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 2: things that they might not feel confident enough to raise 23 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 2: in the classroom or the workplace. 24 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, I reckon that's a really good idea. I mean, 25 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:23,559 Speaker 1: at the end of the day, we want more women 26 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: doing these types of trade apprenticeships. 27 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 2: Right absolutely. And you know, the feedback that I've got 28 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 2: from a lot of the lecturers here at CDUK is 29 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 2: that the girls can do it just as well as 30 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:36,759 Speaker 2: the boys and sometimes better. 31 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: Well that's it, you know, and that's a good thing. 32 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: Do we have many women in the Northern Territory opting 33 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: to do those trade based apprenticeships at this point. 34 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 2: So in those fields that I just talked about before 35 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 2: than on traditional trades, we've got about one hundred female 36 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 2: apprentices enrolled currently in those trades and that represents about 37 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 2: ten percent of the student population in those trades. So 38 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 2: that one in ten is a female student. 39 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: And how important do you reckon it is making sure 40 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:10,359 Speaker 1: that there is mentoring from those who've come before them. 41 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 2: Well, as I said before, these female students might be 42 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 2: the only one in their class, and they might not 43 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 2: see another female student the whole time that they're studying, 44 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 2: and they may not have female role models in their 45 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:24,360 Speaker 2: workplaces either. So it's really important for them to you know, 46 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 2: you've got to see it to be it kind of thing, 47 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:28,799 Speaker 2: And so it's really important for us to connect them 48 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 2: not only with other students doing apprenticeships from different disciplines, 49 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:35,359 Speaker 2: but then connecting them in with a professional who has experience, 50 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:37,920 Speaker 2: who've walked that path before them, who knows what it 51 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 2: feels like and can help share some tips and strategies 52 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:44,360 Speaker 2: and you know, help share their knowledge that they've gained 53 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:45,040 Speaker 2: through their career. 54 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 1: And Caroline, do you reckon or do you hope that 55 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,400 Speaker 1: an initiative such as this will entice small women to 56 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: sort of decide to go down the trade apprenticeship path. 57 00:02:56,639 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 2: I mean, we need as many people in our trades 58 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 2: as possible for me, in female or male, but hopefully 59 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 2: having more female students and these non traditional trades will 60 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 2: help open up young girls eyes to say, oh, I 61 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:10,919 Speaker 2: didn't even know that that was. You know, I didn't 62 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 2: know what boiler making was. But now I've been able 63 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 2: to see somebody do it and someone who looks like me, 64 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:19,639 Speaker 2: I might look into it. I might give it a go. Yeah, 65 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:20,080 Speaker 2: I reckon. 66 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: It's a really interesting thing because, like I know when 67 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: I was a high school student, which is obviously a 68 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: long time ago, but you know, a lot of those 69 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: trades were not even sort of spoken about as something 70 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: that girls could do. 71 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, and we have the VET in Schools program through 72 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 2: CDU as well. But unfortunately, you know, given the nature 73 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 2: of the workshops that these students can go into, there's 74 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 2: limited spaces and so with so many students interested in it, 75 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 2: we just can't simply give every student the opportunity to 76 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 2: experience all the different trades. So there's definitely, you know, 77 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 2: some work to do in raising awareness of the different 78 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 2: trade industries available to young girls and to young boys, 79 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 2: and like I said, putting those role models in place 80 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 2: that young female students can look up to and go, 81 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 2: oh that's you know, that's actually Achieva bullets. It's breaking 82 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 2: down those perceptions and those stereotypes of certain industries being 83 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 2: for blokes only. 84 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:14,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, spot on. Now, obviously, this mentoring program, it was 85 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:18,680 Speaker 1: launched yesterday on International Women's Day, do you reckon you're 86 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,160 Speaker 1: going to have many students that are keen to take part. 87 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 2: We would love as many students as possible, So the 88 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:28,640 Speaker 2: nature of how they do their apprenticeships is that they 89 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 2: only come on to campus for kind of two week 90 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 2: blocks at a time, and then they're back out in 91 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:36,320 Speaker 2: the industry with their workplace who's sponsoring their apprenticeships, So 92 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:39,039 Speaker 2: we don't see them very often. So we try to 93 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:41,719 Speaker 2: catch them when they are on campus. And some of 94 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 2: them come from as far away as Grout Island or 95 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:47,920 Speaker 2: Tennant Creek, so they're not based in Darwin, so there's 96 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 2: a lot going on for them when they are here 97 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:52,720 Speaker 2: in Darwin on campus, So we're just trying to squeeze 98 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 2: in a one hour block, get them to come along 99 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:58,360 Speaker 2: to a lunch when they are on campus, and hopefully 100 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:01,080 Speaker 2: make these connections and keep those connections going when they 101 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:02,840 Speaker 2: do move back into the workplace. 102 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:05,159 Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, I reckon it can only be a 103 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: good thing. Well, Caroline Thompson, I really appreciate your time 104 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 1: this morning. Thanks so much for coming on the show 105 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 1: and telling us a little bit more about CDU's women's 106 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: Trade initiative. 107 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:16,920 Speaker 2: No way, thanks for having me. 108 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:17,479 Speaker 1: Thank you.