Unitec Apprenticeship Trust – and Kartika

The Trust was established in 2004 and is based at Auckland’s Unitec. It has the role of the employer and subcontracts carpentry apprentices to employers. The Trust has 42 apprentices, three of which are women.

“We’re looking for people with the right attitude, to be the best.”

“Punctuality, manners, and presentation – everything is built on these qualities.”

We interviewed Joe Hede (manager) and Kartika Mutzelburg (carpentry apprentice). Kartika is in her fourth year of her carpentry apprenticeship. Kartika won building Apprentice of the Year in 2010. She says of the Trust:

“I approached different builders offering free labour to see what it was like on-site but no-one wanted to take me on so I went to the Trust. If it wasn’t for the Trust, I wouldn’t have any work because no-one took me seriously.”

The benefits of having tradeswomen on board

Joe says that women go the extra mile:

“The women get spoilt for a reason, because they go the extra mile - of course she’s going to be my favourite. Her (Kartika’s) first response to any request is ‘what time do you want me there, Joe.”

The high performance and determination of the women is clear:

“I knew as soon as I met her [Kartika] that we were onto a winner... Dogged determination is what she’s got – she’ll keep going until she’ll get it.”

Joe says the three top business benefits for employing women in trades are their superior performance, attention to detail and improved image of the company.

These benefits improve the Trust’s credibility and have a positive effect on others:

“Kartika’s success has given the Trust more credibility. If you get the right people to do it with you – it’s a great success – hugely rewarding for me – to promote the Apprenticeship Training Trust.”

“Having a female involved, it ups the performance of the guys – e.g. the language drops”.

The benefits of being a tradeswoman

Kartika refutes there are any real barriers to women working in trades:

“There are some things I can’t lift but that is not what it’s all about.”

“Joe makes sure there’s a toilet – on time. You don’t need a woman’s toilet – just a toilet - with toilet paper is fine.”

She says she is in the building trade because she enjoys making something out of nothing:

“I love making things – and saying this is what I’ve done. It’s like a holiday you get paid for – it’s fantastic. It’s creative and other people benefit from it.”

Kartika receives a lot of support from her fellow students and from the Trust:

“Everyone’s eager for me to do well – in class etc. I do get a bit more attention because I’m a girl but it’s always on merit too.”

Her top three things about being a tradeswomen are; she likes being the minority, she feels looked after, and her work looks better ‘because no one expects it to!’

Kartika has high aspirations – beyond being on the tools:

“I want to do property development – and know the ropes first.”

Kartika believes profiling tradeswomen would help encourage other women to take on a trade:

“Unitec has asked me to do talks at careers events – having a woman on the stand would make a difference. Having tradeswomen getting exposure out there so that young people can see they are out there.”

“They’ve put me in the Unitec catalogue to get the face of women out there.”

Joe reflects that Kartika’s success and her profile as the first building apprentice with the Trust has helped attract women. The Trust promotes its tradeswomen in its own magazine and Joe also goes out to talk to schools. He notes the interest from girls at schools and at Unitec:

“I had a lot of enquiries from girls at schools – a lot of questions being asked in the last few years.”

“I go out to the classroom and look at upcomers, attitudes. I approached her and asked if she was interested and she [Kartika] was.”

Importantly, Joe has a passion for making the trade even more attractive to women:

“I’m on a bit of a campaign to break down barriers. I’d want to see it more accessible before I retire.”

Kartika won the Certified Builder’s Apprentice of the Year last year.  She was the first ever woman to win the award.   According to Joe, “this is definitely confirmation that what we’re doing is on the right track”.

What can other employers do to get women working in trades?

Joe recounts a story that sums up both the challenge of getting a woman in the door and the transformation that can occur:

“Women are a lot more difficult for me to place but once I’m let through the door, I’m right. Once a guy rang up and asked for an apprentice, I said ‘I’ll bring her out this afternoon’. He responded ‘what’s this Sheila business?’ He tried all the excuses. I left them together and after two weeks I wanted Kartika back for Habitat for Humanity and he said ‘You leave the girl here, you take the boy’.”

Joe thinks that traditional employer perceptions towards tradeswomen can be changed:

‘I think employers think they have to change too many things, but toilets aren’t an issue. I think some think ‘oh what will happen if I accidentally grabbed her in the wrong place?’ They’re unsure of what to do in certain situations, there’s a bit of embarrassment and a bit of fear they’ll want to come in and tidy up their domain.’

‘Things are changing – dodgy calendars and that – that’s about marking their territory’.

He thinks the best ways to change perceptions is to improve general knowledge:

“Showing builders that girls are on site ‘bringing it to the norm’. Publicising it. Get their faces out there in as many publications as possible, newspapers, television. It needs to be timely too – so that other news doesn’t overtake it. Employers need to experience it as well as know the theory behind taking on women.”

Kartika agrees that employers need to know that women can do it:

“One employer didn’t want to subject me to the swearing etc – so he was actually thinking about me. It’s about showing employers that I can hack it.”

“The employers have to want to have women in the trade – ‘why would they want women in trades?’ They need to see a need.”

For more information on the Unitec Apprenticeship click here.