They Said I Wasn’t Strong Enough: Stereotypes I’ve Faced as a Female Electrician

1. “You won’t be strong enough.”

Usually, I hear people making assumptions like this from a place of concern. It’s all about educating and reassuring others that most jobs don’t require an ungodly amount of strength.

I mean, fair enough. Most people have never seen a girl install an oven, so I don’t blame them for thinking that. (Yes, I can lift an oven, for anyone wondering). No one believes that narwhales exist unit they see one.

The recommended lifting weight for males by Worksafe New Zealand is 25kg. Most people I know can lift their own suitcase. If people want to lift more than that, it’s on them.

If your employer gives you sh!t for not being able to carry heavy loads, just remember that legally they have a duty to ensure that you can do work safely – quoted in Health and Safety in Employment Regulation 1995. If people are making you do unsafe things that you’re not comfortable with, move on.

How I overcame this: Learn how to do the job in your own way.

There is always a simpler or safer way to do a task. You don’t have to be strong to do most of the work that an Electricians do. Cable pulling, installing heavy appliances, fault finding. Things:

• Learn to do things your way: I have my own method of carrying and installing heavy things (e.g appliances) when working on my own. Learn good lifting technique.
• Be patient with others: Explain and reassure customers that you have experience in doing the job. Communication is always good.
• Know your limits: It’s okay if something is too heavy. Ask others for help, or set boundaries with your boss. This also fosters good workplace health and safety.
• Speak up if you don’t think that you’re suited for a job: Occasionally, I’ll tell my boss that I can’t do something because I’m not tall enough to reach. I have no shame in that. This allows for good planning, as everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. If someone else can do the same job faster, then the company is making more money. It works in reverse – I can fit work smaller places where others have difficulty. It’s a win-win.

No one wants to be the first person to ask for help.

2. “Let one of the boys do that.”

I’ve had jobs taken out of my hands. Tasks redirected. Moments where someone decided I needed “help” before I’d even tried. Early on, this used to really get to me. It felt like I was being pushed aside, like I wasn’t competent to do the work.

Now I don’t even blink an eye. It’s one less job for me to do.

How I overcame this: Speak up or treat it as a Delegated Task.

Speak up if you know that you can do the task. People cannot read your mind. Have confidence in yourself. Say things like:

• “Yeah bro I’ve got this”
• “I can give it a good go”
• “I have to learn that for my apprenticeship”

Tradesmen are going deaf. I am not being dramatic. You have to speak up and back yourself, otherwise you will get ignored.

Delegate the task if there’s someone who’s more efficient, or if you can’t be bothered fighting for it. Don’t treat it as a personal matter.

At the beginning of my apprenticeship, the boys often left me out when they needed to move things. Many would assert carrying things for me, even when I said that I was fine. They wouldn’t listen to me. At first I felt bad, questioned if I am capable of being a sparkie?

Eventually I stopped caring. I realised. It’s less work that needed do. People can do my work for me if they wanted to. I can focus on learning other tasks.

Your worth as a Tradesperson is not dependent on how much you can carry. Work smarter not harder.

3. “You’re too small”

Women make up only 3% of tradespeople on the tools across New Zealand. People aren’t used to seeing diversity in construction.

There seems to be this general desire to be like the rest of the boys – that you have to be a tall, relatively young, male, big, and capable of lifting anything. Everything became better when I stopped giving a sh!t about fitting in.

How I overcame this: Find your Niche.

Your best strength is the one that compliments your team. Work is all about how you get the job done quickly and efficiently. Diverse companies do this really well. Some examples:

• Size: I don’t even compete in trying to be the biggest person. I can fit into any hole, gap and crevice. I’ve been placed on projects where the other boys don’t fit. I am 5’3 and 47 kgs.
• Age: In my view, adult apprentices generally have more judgement, life experience, and critical thinking skills than their younger counter parts. Being ‘young’ doesn’t promise you good fitness and all the advantages – a lot of young people I’ve worked with don’t even look after their health.
• Race: Difference in upbringing and cultures means variety in view points. Speaking multiple languages is such an advantage when you’re forced to get along with other trades.

Let go of the group mentality to fit in; to be another match in the matchbox. Be your own person.

4. “You’re only here because you’re a girl.”

Yes, I’ve worked with people who believe that I took someone’s spot. That someone else was more deserving of my apprenticeship. Ironically, many of theses guys were also hired because their dad was friends with the boss. Gaslighting at its finest.

The reality is that many of us are labelled and ‘diversity hires’, and are often bad-mouthed. You don’t want to be working in a company that sees you solely as a green tick for corporate diversity.

How I overcame this: Have a good track record at work.

There’s only one thing that matters – your workmanship. This means consistently getting the work done properly, and not having f*k ups. These are the only metrics that matter:

• Do you bring happy customers?

• Foreman’s requests for you because you’re the only one not f*king up onsite?
• Site manager is constantly pleased with your work?
• Does your work constantly look clean and tidy?
• Do you come to work on time, and rarely take sick days off?

If the answer is ‘yes’ to all of these questions, it’s probably not you that’s the problem. Don’t let your impostor syndrome get to your head.

Simply put it, if you were terrible at your job, people would call you out on having terrible workmanship. If you’re decent, they would find something else to pick on.

5. “She won’t last.”

If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone talk sh!t about me behind my back, I could retire. Even worse was when it used to be my coworkers talking badly about me – people I trusted.

I ignored them. Four years later, I won the Bunnings Trade Women in Apprenticeships award, and am a founding member of an organisation supporting women and gender diversity in trades.

I don’t have time for people who don’t trust that I can do the work.

How I dealt with it: Surround yourself with a good team.

Why whole apprenticeship changed when I upgraded to a better and well-rounded company. Here’s a few facts that you have to come to terms with:

• Good Tradies don’t waste time gossiping: They are too busy thinking about their next project. Politics are a distraction.
• Good Tradies don’t put others down: They spend time training the new guys who want to learn.
• Good Tradies break the abuse cycle: Just because their bosses were a*holes, doesn’t mean that have any right to treat you badly. It won’t make you ‘man up’.
• If you’re not surrounded by good Tradespeople, it may be in your best interests to find a better company.

You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. If you’re working with idiots, a*holes, or people who teach you the ‘janky’ stuff, you’ll definitely turn out like them too.

You’re at the end…

If you’re a girl thinking about the trades and you’re worried that you’re “not built for it,” just know this: confidence comes after you start, not before. Don’t wait until you feel ready.

Being a woman in the trades means that you hear a lot of noise before anyone sees your work. However stereotypes don’t wire houses, fix faults, or get jobs finished. People do. Every day I turn up, learn, and do the work, I’m quietly proving that I belong here. Not as a “female sparky.” Just as a sparky.

Now I’m just worried if I have time for lunch lol.