Trading Places - It's A Female Future

Illawarra Mercury

Wednesday June 7, 2006

By COURTNEY TRENWITH

FIONA Shewring's first taste of life as a tradesperson was washing paint brushes to help make ends meet.

While working as a brush hand, the mother of five discovered a passion for colour and special effects and went on to become a qualified painter and decorator.

After 14 years in the industry, Mrs Shewring now works at Wollongong TAFE to encourage other women to enter trades.

Mrs Shewring has won an award from the National Association of Women in Construction for her efforts to open trades to women.

She works through her role as a painting and decorating teacher and with women in general through TAFE's Outreach program, which encourages women into education of all streams.

"I show them they can do things that they really didn't think they could," she said.

"We work on projects. At the beginning they seem impossible and they don't think they can do it and they're quite frightened, to be honest, but I prove to them they're capable of doing it."

Mrs Shewring's students have painted a mural at Berkeley swimming pool and Wollongong Hospital's cancer care unit.

Many of them have gone on to become qualified tradespeople.

Mrs Shewring said Australia lagged behind many other countries in breaking down barriers for women in trades.

"It's part of the Australian culture," she said.

"There are women out there that are capable of doing trades, (but) there's still a huge resistance."

Mrs Shewring said co-educational classes also helped teach men to accept tradeswomen.

"The male apprentices see the women's capacity, they see how good they are, so these young male apprentices who are going to be the bosses of the future are aware that women can do the job," she said.

Painting and decorating are the most popular trade courses at TAFE for women, but there is also an increasing number of females doing electrical and bricklaying courses.

"Even those trades that are traditionally thought of as dirty and heavy - there are women doing amazingly well," Mrs Shewring said.

© 2006 Illawarra Mercury

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