How the ‘other four-year degree’ can craft a career in trades

University is not the only four-year path to success. There is an alternative, worthy of our respect, that offers just as many rewards.

A push for employers, parents and schools to reframe the worth of apprenticeships as a career path has been launched, as the federal government spends big on encouraging young Australians to pick up the tools.

Empowered Women in Trades charity founder Hacia Atherton says referencing apprenticeships as “the other four-year degree” would be a good start.

“Sadly, trades at school and in society are often positioned as a secondary thing,” she says.

“They say you weren’t smart enough to go to university so why don’t you try a trade?”

Hacia says people underestimate the intelligence you need to be a tradie.

“There’s a lot of academia in trades – you have to do schoolwork to reach a qualification, you often have to have quite a high understanding of mathematics, be able to read site drawings etc.

“Studying a trade is just as much work as a university degree, but it just looks different to what you do at uni.”

Plumber Aimee Stanton with her brother and business partner Ben outside one of the tiny houses they have built.

This week the federal government announced $365m in funding to subsidise the wages of 35,000 new apprentices as part of the 2022 budget.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said extending the successful Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements and Completing Apprenticeship Commencements programs was “about getting Australians skilled and into jobs right now”.

Atherton supports the move to increase take-up and completion rates with a $5000 payment to entice new apprentices and up to $15,000 for employers who take them on.

“It supports employers to be able to take on those apprentices and carry some of the financial burden,” she says.

In delivering the incentive, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said: “Right now, there are more than 350,000 apprentices and trainees in training and a ­record 220,000 of these are trade apprentices. These investments are about making those numbers go even higher.”

Atherton hopes the government will spend money promoting trades as a worthy career choice with lots of benefits – particularly to women.

“You learn on the job, you get paid to study, you can travel with your trade, you can go on to start your own business and later down the track you can flip into the corporate side of things.

“Some of the best leaders in our trade-based industries started as apprentices.”

Melbourne qualified plumber Aimee Stanton, 28, says finding a trade has been joyful for her after being “hopeless” at school and studying beauty therapy before realising she “couldn’t paint nails to save my life”.

She went to work with her builder father before taking up a plumbing apprenticeship.

“Most people think of an apprenticeship as an afterthought, but with a trade you are learning every day and you are getting paid,” she says.

“Society needs to normalise trades as a career, especially for women. It’s not as hard as it seems.”

The small houses Aimee Stanton with her brother and business partner Ben have built are big on comfort.

She says gaining a trade is a core foundation that can open many career doors. She now runs Tiny Stays and builds all the tiny houses that are rented out, with her brother Ben, who was previously an accountant.

“Our passions were building, off-grid living and holidaying, so we quit our jobs and decided to build tiny houses. Ben had done a lot of carpentry in the past, but he didn’t do an apprenticeship.

“We are both on the tools now doing everything to build these tiny houses and we wake up every day and love what we are doing.”

Atherton hopes imagery used to promote the scheme will not be male- focused otherwise “it tells women they don’t belong in trades”.

She says parents are often one of the biggest barriers for children taking up apprenticeships because they remember when trades were very rough 30-odd years ago.

“Things have come a long way since then.”

Empowered Women in Trades founder Hacia Atherton would like to see 10 times as many women in trades within 10 years. She says a Grattan Institute report indicates increasing the number of female tradespeople by six per cent could boost Australia’s GDP by $25bn over the next decade.

MARKS OF A SUCCESSFUL TRADESWOMAN

Woman can have a huge impact in trades.

A preference for hands-on work and practical problem solving

A love of mathematics, science and technology

Tolerance of negative male behaviours

Positive attitudes to dirty, heavy work

Persistence, resilience and maturity

Love of the outdoors and involvement in sport

Source: ACT Women in Trades Research