Last Updated on February 15, 2022 by BCCWITT
This week on the Construction Record podcast Journal of Commerce staff writer Russell Hixson spoke with BC Centre for Women in the Trades (BCCWITT) outreach coordinator Lindsay Kearns, a British Columbia organization that seeks to attract women to trades careers as well as ensure retention in the industry for women.
Lindsay is a Red Seal journey electrician and said her work in the organization sprang from a desire to create community for herself and fellow women in the trades and also to address the lack of peer mentorship for women when men often join the trades, receive hand-me-down tools or learn of opportunities through families and friends.
A series of ad-hoc BCCWITT meetups in Victoria, B.C. have led to informal networking amongst tradeswomen, Kearns said, as well as the ability to share experiences unique to both working in the trades and being a woman in the industry.
Kearns also addressed the issue of toxic work culture which affects women disproportionately as well as the importance of perspective, context and the unique conditions of the construction industry.