An event that aims to bring together female Gas Engineers, plumbers and other tradeswomen will return in July after two years away due to the pandemic.
Women Installers Together is the only event in the UK specifically by and for tradeswomen, and will roll out at London Metropolitan University’s Great Hall on Wednesday 6 July 2022.
Women Installers Together (or WIT to its mates) presents a rare opportunity for tradeswomen to:
- gather and chat in person,
- meet supportive manufacturers and companies,
- hear the stories of other women in trades,
- sit in on a talk from headline speaker Mandy Hickson – the second woman RAF fast jet fighter pilot, and the only one for a long time to lead a team of men.
Around 200 delegates are expected to head down to the full-day event, which will be chaired by WIT founder Hattie Hasan MBE, who gave up a career in teaching 30 years ago to pursue her passion and retrain as a tradeswoman.
Why this event matters
Women have long been underrepresented in trades and the Gas industry and WIT aims to redress this imbalance by welcome women to the sector and discussing ways to improve diversity.
Figures from the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) in 2019 found that women only made up 12.3% of the UK’s construction workforce, with that figure dropping to 5-7% when it came to BAME representation. Narrow it to senior roles and women represented just 1% of the industry.
A female Gas Engineer hit the headlines in 2021 when she reported being hit with comments like ‘you can’t do man’s job’ and ‘you should be in the kitchen and cleaning’ whilst on the job.
“I am trying to break the stereotypes and I think it would be amazing for more women to get involved within the trade,” said Lisa Sheppard, from Cwmbran, South Wales, who started an Instagram account (@gas_girl_) to encourage women into the trade.
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