More women in the trades - this is how it could work

Fewer and fewer young women are starting apprenticeships in skilled trades. To get these numbers back up, companies need a cultural shift. But female students and their parents are also in demand.

This article is part of the special feature on women in the trades.

"Young, female, and hardly any interest in skilled trades" – this headline really angered Anja Nikolic (name changed by the editors). Our newspaper, the German Crafts Journal, reported in issue 10 that fewer and fewer young women are starting apprenticeships in the skilled trades . Years ago, Anja Nikolic would have loved to be one of them. After secondary school, she wanted to become a chimney sweep or a metalworker. But hardly anyone actually wanted a woman as an apprentice . "The excuses were almost always the same: no sanitary facilities for women, it's not for girls, if I hired you you'd be pregnant in six months anyway, women have no place in the skilled trades," she recounts. " When you're rejected like that, you really lose interest in skilled trades. "

Downward trend has various reasons

Professor Dr. Friedrich Hubert Esser believes not for ungewöhnlich, that women are significantly underrepresented in the skilled tradesThe fact that their share is now just over 20 percent is a matter of concern to the President of the Federal Institute for Vocational Training (BIBB) different reason.

Firstly, there is the demographic trend . "The number of local young people has declined significantly as a result of a far below-average birth rate for both sexes." For men, the resulting labor shortage, particularly in skilled trades, has been largely filled by immigrants . "This compensatory effect does not occur to the same extent for women ."

Educational level of young women increases

The constantly increasing qualification to impact."Young women have, on average, better school leaving grades and are increasingly turning to offers outside the dual system", explains Professor Esser.

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Full-time vocational training programs in health and education professions are particularly popular among them. The ongoing trend towards obtaining a university entrance qualification (Abitur) further contributes to this. "For several years now, young women have constituted the largest group of first-year students at our universities."

Concentration on a few professions

Furthermore, when they opt for dual vocational training , they are n't particularly creative in their choice . The 20 most popular occupations account for 70 percent of all newly signed apprenticeship contracts . In the skilled trades, apprenticeships as a hairdresser and as a retail sales assistant in the food industry have consistently ranked among the top ten for the past two decades.

But their star is waning. Fewer and fewer girls are beginning apprenticeships in either of these two professions. This is confirmed by annual analyses by the Federal Statistical Office. Between 2002 and 2017, the number of newly concluded apprenticeship contracts for hairdressers almost halved, from 15.450 to 8.082. The decline for saleswomen is more than 50 percent. While 10.644 young women wanted to learn in a bakery, butcher, or confectionery shop in 2002, 15 years later, that number has fallen to just 5.022.    

Fewer bakeries, many empty apprenticeships

For the misery he leads Central Association of the German Bakery Trade a number of reasons On the one hand, there are the sharply reduced operating figuresIn 2009, there were almost 15.000 bakeries registered in the trade register. Nine years later, there are only about 11.000. another problem is the Demand side"Many of our companies have received significantly fewer applications," said Nils Vogt, head of vocational training and securing skilled workers at the Central Association. Recently, more than 3.800 training positions remained unfilledThis corresponds to a rate of 40,6 percent. Trend towards studying and Demographic change also contribute to the negative development.

Worrying downward trend in East Germany

The Central Association of the German Bakery Trade is observing a " worrying downward trend, " particularly in eastern Germany . In 2017, only 546 young women began apprenticeships as retail sales assistants across all three specializations . Vocational schools are also struggling with this shortage . "To reach the required minimum of 15 students per class, some schools are teaching general education subjects across trades or using cross-curricular concepts ," explains Nils Vogt. In some places, they are forced to react "with creative measures for class and lesson planning ." To ensure that at least the existing programs are maintained , the Central Association is advocating for the minimum number of students to be reduced to ten . Because one thing is certain for Nils Vogt: "Once a location or department closes, it becomes difficult to re-establish a viable infrastructure if needed."

The attractiveness of training is increased

"Bake Your Future" on Facebook: The baking trade has already recognized the signs of the times. To make the training for retail sales assistants in the food industry future-proof, the training regulations are currently being modernized . Competitive apprentice wages are also intended to help stop the downward trend. With the recruitment campaign " Bake Your Future, " information about entry-level and career advancement opportunities is provided in a "modern and target-group-oriented" manner . "The possibility of taking on a management position in a company after completing an apprenticeship with further training as a sales manager is certainly attractive, but often not well enough known," says education expert Nils Vogt. However, a change in thinking is being observed. Many customers are willing to spend more money on food that is regionally produced and of good quality. "This also makes an apprenticeship in the baking trade more attractive."

Girls' Day alone cannot fix it

More information for companies about Girls' Day: Young women are still a rare sight in most technical trades . Gender-neutral career guidance aims to change this. Girls' Day has been a fixed date in school calendars for years . On this day dedicated to girls' future careers, female students can get a feel for what it's like to work in a traditionally male-dominated profession . "But like all career guidance measures, Girls' Day shouldn't stand alone ," says Friedrich Hubert Esser, President of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB). Career guidance is a process in which various measures should interlock , each highlighting different aspects of career choice. "Addressing gender stereotypes is one of these aspects. Girls' Day can make an important contribution here," Esser is convinced.

Crafts are more male-dominated

For the skilled trades to become more female-dominated , the president of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) believes a cultural shift is necessary . "For example, it would be helpful to create an environment that recognizes women as welcome members of the workforce and also as highly successful entrepreneurs in the skilled trades ." He notes that the prevailing corporate culture is still very "male-dominated ." This makes it particularly difficult for young women to envision their professional future in the skilled trades – even if they are interested in manual labor. Young women should continue to be shown the opportunities offered by the skilled trades and their enthusiasm for the diverse fields of work should be fostered . Friedrich Hubert Esser also emphasizes the importance of convincing parents of the advantages of vocational training in the skilled trades . His conclusion: "Both sides need to meet each other halfway."

Top 25 apprenticeships for women in the skilled trades

Source: ZDH statistics, new contracts by educational background, 2018; own research

Doubts about positive change

Based on her own experiences, Anja Nikolic is rather skeptical . More than ten years ago, she applied for an apprenticeship in a skilled trade. She strongly doubts that anything has changed for the better since then – or will change in the near future. " Not every long-established master craftsman has a neutral view of women in the trades. "

She has since started her own cleaning company. "Without formal training," the 27-year-old emphasizes. It wasn't ideal, but things are going quite well now. She wishes more young women would begin dual vocational training . A headline like "Young, female, and hardly any interest in skilled trades" isn't helpful. "It probably gives many people an even worse impression than they already have of women in skilled trades."