One of the challenges facing businesses and education leaders alike has been trying to get more women involved in trades that would be classified as non-traditional.
But it appears the Southeast College’s Estevan campus has succeeded in attracting female students for its programs. It has three female students – Megan Barbour, Hailey Jones and Kaelyn Smith – in its nine-student, 20-week applied certificate welding program.
It’s the first time the college has had three female students in a non-traditional trade.
Barbour is originally from Newfoundland but now lives in Estevan. The course has been a lot of hard work, but she has learned a lot and is confident she could work in a welding shop.
“I’ve become a lot steadier with my hands,” she said. “I actually know what I’m doing. I’m a lot better at practicing being safe.”
Her father and her grandfather were welders, and she wanted to follow in their footsteps.
“I never knew that until a few years ago, and then it sparked interest,” said Barbour.
Much of the time is spent working in a trailer supplied by Sask Polytechnic that has all the equipment they need. Half of the trailer has all the necessary welding supplies. The other side has the equipment they need for the practical portion of the course.
Other students in the course have started to become like family, Barbour said. She missed them during the Christmas break. Everyone has been really helpful, particularly her female colleagues.
“We always try to help each other out, but that goes for all the other students as well,” she said.
She hopes to see other women entering non-traditional trades.
Barbour is still looking for work. She has a work placement program with SaskPower coming up, and hopes to work with the Crown corporation once it is finished. The things she has learned in the course have helped her “immensely,” she said.
Jones, who is from B.C., but now resides in Weyburn, was also drawn to welding because family connections. Her father was an iron worker, and she grew up around the trades and around welders.
“I have always been interested in the structural iron work trade and welding in general,” said Jones.
Jones enjoys working with pieces of metal from the initial stage to the finished product.
“It seems like it’s a piece of metal that sits around or stands up, but learning all the ins and outs of it, between the two stages, it’s a lot,” said Jones.
She has found the college’s program to be really challenging and fast-paced. The hands-on component has been excellent.
“We do a lot of the reading the night before, and then hands-on learning the next day,” said Jones. “It puts the two things together, and starts making a lot more sense than just trying to read everything and then just start using those things.”
Students in the course have learned the size of metal, different types of metal, welding processes, safety procedures, expectations in the trade and expectations when out on jobs.
They have also learned how to fix mistakes and stop making mistakes.
Jones is looking for a job, and hopes her job placement in February will have positive results.
“It sounds like they have a project that I’ll be working on with their journeymen,” said Jones. “I’m not exactly sure what it will be. It depends on what I’ve got finished before then.”
She also hopes to see more women in the trades.
Smith, who is from Estevan, said she became interested in welding after taking a course in school, and has also worked in a welding shop. She enjoyed it, and compares it to art, which she is also interested in.
The course has taught her a lot of little things, and how even a small mistake can have big consequences on the weld.
“There are a lot of little things you have to learn and keep in mind,” said Smith. “There are lots of techniques.”
She has learned a lot of hand skills, and now that they’re near the end of the course, the students are doing a lot of textbook work.
The course has gone by very quickly. She believes the students are lucky to have a very good instructor, Gerald Neudorf, who is knowledgeable and committed.
Smith already has a job lined up after she graduates the course, and she is looking forward to applying what she has learned at the college.
“I believe you have to have (worked) 1,800 hours, and then you can apply for your level 2,” said Smith. “My plan is to get those hours as quickly as possible.”
The students in the course are hard workers, she said. They get along well and help each other. She was surprised to find out that this is the first time the college has had three female students in a welding class.
It’s a trade that is dominated by men, but Smith hopes to see more women in the trades.
