WOMEN IN THE WORKSHOP

Press, 15 May 1985, Page 21

WOMEN IN THE WORKSHOP

Story:

LYN HOLLAND

Pictures: DAVID ALEXANDER

Two young men walk past the Christchurch Polytechnic automotive workshop. They are wideeyed and laughing, seemingly in disbelief: the workshop is full of young women.

The 11 women do not seem to notice; they are concentrating on wheel alignment. They are the first students of a 12-week Polytechnic course introducing women to the trades — metalwork, welding, timber and decorative work, automotive engineering, outdoor construction, and machine tool engineering. Their ages range from 16 to 27. Some have come straight from school; many have had jobs traditionally considered women’s work. The course is organised by the Labour Department. While on it the women get a training allowance from the department, slightly more than the dole. At school, most of the women shied away from non-traditional areas such as woodwork and metalwork, although for most the opportunity was there. Instead, they did typing, home economics, and clothing. “You just didn’t do them, that

was for the guys. All my friends were doing typing, so I just went along with the role thing,” says one of the women.

Nearly all agree that school did not prepare them for what they wanted to do in life. Most left with vague ideas of doing jobs traditionally done by women —physical education teaching, social work, nursing, kindergarten teaching. Others did not have any ideas at all; some knew only that they wanted to “do something active.” “I probably did this course to prove a point. I wasn’t going to work in an office all day,” says one. The others respond with a chorus of “No way.” The morning’s situation vacant columns are scattered around the classroom and two women leave early for a job interview (with calls of “good luck” from their classmates). But getting a job and expanding their job opportunities is not the only aim of the course.

It also aims to give the women confidence, to increase their self reliance and independence. For this reason they are taught life-related skills, such as communication, assertiveness, first aid,

recreation, and health awareness, as well as the trade skills. They also learn about issues such as racism and the work of trade unions. Their classes have included visits from Rape Crisis, a video on holistic medicine, relaxation techniques, and a week-end tramp in Lewis Pass.

Jossi Ellen, who is in charge of the course, emphasises that the women themselves determine what the course offers. It has to be flexible and supportive of their needs, she says. She seems to relate to the other women more as a friend than a tutor. She believes strongly that women need the chance to expand their job horizons and life experiences.

“The thrill for me is watching them accept the challenges and succeed in an area to which they have been denied access in the past. It’s the excitement of seeing

the women grow.” There is still a negative reaction to women in the trades, but such attitudes today are unrealistic, she says. Society is changing and women’s traditional job opportunities are shrinking. Women need to be ready for these changes and society has a responsibility to prepare them.

“There have to be other areas that women can look at. To work effectively in these areas they have to learn new skills, and adopt different, more confident attitudes.”

Most of the women were uncertain when first confronted by the assortment of lathes, engines, oxyacetylene gear, and other equipment in their workshops. Most had been discouraged from “tinkering with such machinery.” Now, towards the end of the course, they talk freely about lap-

joints, t-welds, and four-stroke motors. There is a common feeling that seems to be a mixture of pride and disbelief: “It’s not so difficult after all.” “When I walked into the machine shop I looked around and thought, ‘Oh God,’ but once you start to use the things everything is all right. It’s so easy really,” one woman says.

Most of the women have preferred not to have men in their classes. “If I couldn’t do something and they (male classmates) said stand aside and let me do it, I’d probably let them do it. But with all women you either do it, or it isn’t done.”

Making the women comfortable and happy in a workshop is one of the main aims of one of the metal and welding tutors, Chris Cato. “It’s fairly frightening; there's a lot of equipment they do not understand when they first come in. That’s the most important thing — gradually to get them acquainted with the machinery.”

He and the other metal and welding instructor, Fred Hickey, enjoy teaching the women: quite

different from most of their students, they say. Most of the apprentices they tutor are in the workshops because they have to be; the women are there because they want to be, the tutors say. How does their work compare? Chris Cato says that women make far better gas welders than the men he has taught, though he does not know why. Generally, women may not be better than men, but they are certainly as good, he adds. Fred Hickey says: “There are one or two jobs that come out of here that I would be proud to say I did.”

Many of the women are still not sure what they will do when the course ends, but they all agree that they now have more options and the confidence to do things they could not have done before. They talk enthusiastically about what they have learnt and about their tutors — but then they become self-conscious about their enthusiasm.

One says: “It sounds like bu 11... but it’s true.” Another nods: “It does sound like a line coming across, doesn't it?” Is it true? “Yeah, too right!”