Sep 18, 2023
Skilled trades have had long-standing stigmas undermining their value as much needed and viable career choices. A key driver of these stigmatisms is a simple lack of awareness and understanding. People tend to fill in the blanks and come to their own conclusions when information isn’t readily available or exposure is limited.
Challenging these misconceptions and promoting education around the benefits of skilled trade careers have done a lot to change the narrative, but there’s still more work to be done. Here are a few ways we can collectively continue to positively influence common misperceptions and encourage everyone to consider fulfilling and rewarding careers in welding and the skilled trades.
1. Fostering Partnerships and Collaboration
It’s essential to foster collaboration between education and industry. Highlighting the symbiotic relationship between education, skilled trades, labour unions, and various professions demonstrates how much they rely on and complement each other for success.
Encouraging partnerships between educational institutions and businesses in the trades will help align the curriculum with real-world industry demands. These collaborations enable industry professionals to contribute to curriculum development directly, ensuring their programs remain relevant and current as they build their workforce. We’re doing this with our Sparking Success program, a four-way collaboration between industry, education, the CWB Welding Foundation and labour union partners to create pathways into post-secondary education, apprenticeships and careers in welding or welding-related skilled trades for high school students. It’s a win for everyone involved and a model that’s easy to adopt.
2. Accessible Information
We all know internship programs, apprenticeships, and co-op opportunities provide students with hands-on experience, but how to enter one and information on the possibilities, financial support, and earning potential are often missing from the discussion. Simply put, people curious about the skilled trades usually don’t know where to start unless they’ve already been exposed to them.
Prioritizing the need for visible and accessible information about the skilled trades in schools, colleges, and vocational training centers would go a long way in continuing to build the narrative we’re looking for. For example, providing accurate and current information to guidance counsellors is invaluable, allowing the skilled trades to participate in more discussions about student career planning.
The same concept can be extended to pitching positive stories to media outlets that can pick up and broadcast the story outside your sphere of influence. Our Mind Over Metal™ camps and workshops often receive local media coverage, capturing the excitement and passion of interactive welding sessions that expose students to welding in safe and fun environments. Many of those students catch the welding bug and pursue further education in welding and welding-related skilled trades. Furthermore, students typically share their positive experiences with parents, teachers, guidance counsellors and influencers who are important in changing the narrative and exposing the broader community to new and future careers.
3. Showcasing Diversity and Inclusion
Classrooms are becoming inclusive spaces welcoming individuals from all backgrounds, and the skilled trades should be no different. Promoting diversity and inclusion within industry helps break stereotypes and attracts a wider range of traditionally untapped talent. Embracing all genders, ethnicities, and walks of life creates positive and enriching environments that foster collaboration, creativity, and innovation. Having ambassadors representing all types of people helps reinforce that skilled trade work is for everyone.
Unsurprisingly, employers play a critical role in leading the way for diversity, equity and inclusion opportunities. For example, offering things like gender-neutral equipment and facilities or flexible working conditions to encourage more female participation should be top of mind for every workplace looking to lead the next generation of skilled tradespeople.
Another great way to support inclusion is to highlight success stories of underrepresented groups in the skilled trades, inspiring and motivating others to pursue various career options. Highlighting the achievements of qualified tradespeople who have built fulfilling and prosperous careers inspires others to view skilled trades as viable options. This can be done through industry awards and recognition programs, social media campaigns, career fairs or mentorship programs similar to our Women of Steel™ Mentorship Program2. Seeing diverse role models thrive in their trade dispels stereotypes and shows that success can be attained regardless of the barriers.
4. Rethinking Perceptions and Language Around the Skilled Trades
How we talk about the skilled trades plays a significant role in shaping perceptions. A simple comment can plant a seed that entirely steers a young mind away from the skilled trades. These comments are often outdated stereotypes, making it incredibly important to redefine what being a skilled tradesperson looks like.
Phrases like “dirty work” or “unskilled labour” portray the skilled trades negatively and reinforce the stereotype that blue-collar work is less than ideal. Nothing could be further from the truth. If it weren’t for all the creative problem solvers and brilliantly skilled tradespeople in the world, we wouldn’t have any infrastructure, roads to drive on or cars to drive on those roads. Think about it; you wouldn’t even have a home to live in. Nearly everything around you requires dedication and expertise to come together. By reframing the language used to describe the skilled trades, we can demonstrate the value and professionalism associated with these careers and encourage each other to see them as respectable as any other vocation.
IT’S A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT
Changing the narrative around skilled trades sounds simple, but these misconceptions are deeply rooted in our society and changing how we talk about them will continue to take time. We’ve made steady progress in challenging the negatives while nurturing the positives and benefits. Still, we must continue to have these discussions and come together to foster collaboration and positively and inclusively celebrate the skilled trades industry’s successes to show how rewarding a career in the skilled trades can be.
Join our efforts in changing the narrative and unlocking the world of fulfilling career paths that welding and the skilled trades can provide. Whether you’re joining our Mentorship Network as a Mentor, investing in your future workforce with Sparking Success or hosting a Mind Over Metal Camp in your community, now more than ever, it’s time to come together and forge ahead to shift perceptions and inspire the future labour force.