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 topic women in crafts

"Young, female, and little interest in crafts" – this headline really made Anja Nikolic (name changed by the editors). Our newspaper, the Deutsches Handwerksblatt, reported in issue 10 that fewer and fewer young women start training in the skilled tradesYears ago, Anja Nikolic would have loved to be one of them. After high school, she wanted to become a chimney sweep or metalworker. But hardly anyone really wanted a woman as a trainee"The excuses were usually always the same: no sanitary facilities for women, it's not for girls, if I hire you you'll be pregnant after six months anyway, women have no place in the trades," she enumerates.If you get rejected like that, then you really don't want to do any work."

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.

On the one hand, there is the demographic development"The number of young natives has declined significantly as a result of a birth rate that is well below average for both sexes." For men, the demand gap, especially in the skilled trades, was largely filled by immigrants. "This Compensation effect occurs in women in this form not on."

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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They are particularly interested in full-time school-based training courses in the health and education professions. continuing trend towards Abitur does the rest. "Young women have been the strongest group among first-year students at our universities for several years now."

Concentration on a few professions

Come in addition: When they choose a dual vocational training decide, they are not particularly creative in the selection. 20 most popular professions account for 70 percent of all newly concluded training contracts. From the skilled trades, apprenticeships as hairdressers and specialist food salespeople have consistently made it into the top ten over 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

Especially in East Germany The Central Association of the German Bakery Trade observes a "worrying downward trend". In 2017, a total of only 546 young women started training as a sales assistant. With the Lack also have the vocational schools to struggle. "In order to achieve the required minimum number of 15 students per class, Some of them teach general education subjects across trades or use cross-curricular concepts", explains Nils Vogt. In some places, one is forced "to creative measures for class and lesson planning" to react to it. So that at least the existing offer remains, the central association is committed to ensuring that the Minimum number reduced to ten students One thing is clear to Nils Vogt: "Once a location or department is closed, it becomes difficult to reestablish a meaningful infrastructure if necessary."

The attractiveness of training is increased

"Bake your future" on FacebookThe bakery trade has already recognized the signs of the times. In order to make the training for specialist salespersons in the food trade future-oriented, the Training regulations currently modernized, Also competitive remuneration of the trainees should help to stop the downward trend. Youth campaign "Bake your future" informs in a "modern and target group-oriented" manner about entry and advancement options. "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 sufficiently known," says education expert Nils Vogt. However, a shift in thinking is observable here. Many customers are willing to spend more money on locally produced, high-quality food. "This also makes an apprenticeship in the baking trade more attractive."

Girls' Day alone cannot fix it

Read More Info for companies on Girls' DayIn the most technical trades are young women are rarely found, A gender-neutral career guidance aims to change this. For years, a fixed date in the school calendar has been Girls' Day. At the Girls' Future Day Students can get an idea of what it is like to work in a typical male profession"But like all vocational guidance measures, the Girls' Day does not stand alone", says BIBB President Friedrich Hubert Esser. professional orientation be a Process, by different measures should be interlinked, each of which explores 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

So that Crafts become more feminine, the BIBB President needs something like a culture change"It would be helpful, for example, to have a climate that shows that Women welcome as part of the workforce and also are very successful as entrepreneurs in the craft sector." The prevailing corporate culture be still very "masculine". Young women in particular find it difficult to see their own professional future in the skilled trades – even if they are interested in skilled trades. The young women should continues to open up the possibilities of craftsmanship and the Enthusiasm for the diverse areas of application. For Friedrich Hubert Esser it is also important to Convince parents of the benefits of vocational trainingHis conclusion: "Both sides must move towards each other."

Top 25 apprenticeships for women in the skilled trades

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

Doubts about positive change

Looking at her own experiences, Anja Nikolic rather skepticalMore than ten years ago, she applied for an apprenticeship in a commercial-technical profession. She strongly doubts that anything has changed for the better since then—or will in the near future."Not every long-established master has a neutral view of women in the skilled trades."

She has since started her own cleaning business. "Without any training," the 27-year-old emphasizes. It's not ideal, but things are going quite well now. would like to see more young women start a dual training programA headline like "Young, female, and little interest in skilled trades" isn't very helpful. "For many, it may give them an even worse impression than they already have of women in skilled trades."