Our Women in Trade research revealed that girls leaving school still feel excluded from the Trade industry. The data shows that half of girls surveyed between 16-18 years old believe boys receive more opportunities to enter the sector that they do.

When asked why they would avoid a Trade career, 16–18-year-old girls said their top three reasons were a lack of information provided by their school (37%), and the feeling that the industry is too male-dominated (27%) or too intimidating (23%). This was followed by a lack of apprenticeship options (21%) and the concern that they weren’t physically strong enough (19%). 

The survey also reveals a critical lack of role models for girls to look up to in the sector, with three-quarters of 16-to-18-year-olds saying they’re unaware of any women currently working as a tradesperson. Over half of all respondents who considered a career in the industry believe seeing more women in Trade would have convinced them to pursue it. 

We want to attract more women into trade professions and that starts at school. Through our funding of trade apprentices and research into the barriers preventing more girls from becoming trade professionals, we hope to create a more equitable future for women in Trade.

How to apply for apprenticeship funding

To make the funding process as simple as possible for all applications, we are working with Transfer to Transform hubs around the country. Once they have received an application, they share it with us to confirm we are willing to provide the funding.

We’d love to see more of our TradePoint members apply for our funding and over the coming months, you’ll be seeing more information about the funding scheme in store. 

Interested in securing funding for an apprenticeship for yourself or for an employee?

Find out more from the list of regional partners around the country in the list below: