Electrical student encourages women to enter trade

“Because we can,” she says.

“What is stopping women from doing the same jobs men are doing?”

Rozetta, from Portland, is nearing the end of her electrical apprenticeship and says she’s happy to match her skills with anyone in the industry.

The South West TAFE student hopes the new Great South Coast Construction Careers for Women Program funded as part of the Federal Government’s Building Women’s Careers Program will encourage more women into trades and more companies to consider employing women.

Rozetta has been studying towards a career as an electrician since finishing Year 12 in 2020.

After completing a six-month pre-apprenticeship in electrical, she moved into trade assistant work with a domestic company in Portland while studying three days a week at South West TAFE.

She progressed to an apprenticeship in August 2021, initially with a domestic company before moving to the industrial sector with Portland Smelter.

The fourth-year apprentice sees good job security as a registered electrician. “Jobs might be lost because of robotics and AI but you will always need electrics for those improvements,” she said.

“The diversity of the trade is really interesting and it can take you anywhere. You could set up music festivals, even work in Antarctica. “You need an electrician for everything and I really enjoy the work.

Three of the 12 students in Rozetta’s South West TAFE class are female, but the proportion of women is lower in other classes.

Rozetta sees no drawbacks to being a female in a male-dominated trade and she hopes the new program opens options for women and changes the attitudes of employers.

“It’s not just about whether women want to get into trades or not, it’s about whether companies are willing to employ them,” she said. “I’ve been lucky to have two very supportive workplaces, but that’s not always the case for women.”