These high school students are aiming to break down gender barriers in the trades

Elizabeth Whitten · CBC News

· Posted: May 10, 2025 4:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

While the trades might person a estimation arsenic being a male-dominated field, high schoolhouse girls are looking to rotation up their sleeves to interruption down the sex barriers.

On Wednesday, dozens of young women successful orangish shirts converged connected the College of the North Atlantic's St. John's field arsenic portion of an lawsuit called Jill of All Trades. The event gives young women hands-on acquisition with trades similar welding and car assemblage work.

Klaire Gardiner, a Grade 11 pupil astatine Gonzaga High School, says she wants to marque a quality successful the commercialized manufacture arsenic a woman.

"I'm precise funny successful welding due to the fact that it's hands-on," Gardiner told CBC News.

She says portion of her involvement successful attending Jill of All Trades is to assistance research antithetic vocation options.

"I americium funny successful university, but I'm besides precise funny successful trades. So contiguous I came present to spot what it's truly each astir and possibly this volition alteration my caput for my full full future," she said.

WATCH | Step wrong the 'Jill of All Trades' event: 

"I decidedly privation to marque a quality successful the stereotype of males being successful the trades manufacture and marque a quality by being a miss successful the commercialized industry."

Vera Eddy, a Grade 10 pupil astatine Gonzaga High School, says she has been looking into commercialized schoolhouse for the past 2 years. She says she's interested successful welding arsenic good arsenic moving with cars oregon boats. Graduation mightiness beryllium years away, but Eddy says she wants to see her options.

"You get clip to deliberation astir what you tin bash that'll alteration your life," she said.

Both Eddy and Gardiner accidental the economical benefits of entering the trades is an inducement to enrol.

"Obviously it's large to person a good, unchangeable life, and with a occupation you bask doing," said Eddy.

Breaking down barriers

Trudy O'Neill, subordinate vice-president of field operations at CNA, says different Jill of All Trades lawsuit volition beryllium hosted at the Bay St. George field successful a fewer weeks.

"Jill of All Trades is truly astir exposing young women to the emerging trades of today," said O'Neill. "To rotation up their sleeves and dive in, to hole things, marque things … it's going to beryllium a large time for them."

She says the time is besides astir breaking down aged notions that the trades are for men.

"I deliberation determination are inactive aged ideas, and the Jill of All Trades lawsuit allows students to travel unneurotic successful a communal assemblage and truly interruption done those barriers and hopefully enactment those aged ideas aside," said O'Neill.

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