The girls were on the tools at Whitestone Contracting Ltd earlier this week, as part of an initiative to get more females involved in the construction industry.

A group of students from Waitaki Girls’ High School took part in a Girls with High-Vis day at the company's Deborah site, just south of Ōamaru, on Wednesday (June 21).

Girls with Hi-Vis is a Connexis Te Pūkenga initiative that aims to encourage more women into infrastructure and trade-based roles, which they may not have considered previously. 

The company provides on-job training and career pathways to help people gain tertiary qualifications, without needing student loans, Connexis Te Pūkenga training advisor Kelly McEvedy said.

Kelly is based in Christchurch, but works across eight regions, including North Otago, to support communities and their trainees through the company’s programmes, she said.

The open days are about giving female high school students the opportunity to visit an infrastructure company with their school, get hands-on experience and hear from inspirational women in the industry.

It offers them an understanding about what’s involved in the many and varied roles in infrastructure’s civil, energy, telecommunication and water industries.

“It’s not an industry traditionally that girls look at, although more and more it is. So, yeah, it’s just giving them an opportunity.”

Females make up 50% of the population, yet only account for 11% of infrastructure trainees, Kelly said.

“At the same time, the infrastructure industries are in huge demand and have critical worker shortages. By highlighting the infrastructure industry and the careers available to women and men alike, we can tap into a wider pool of talent and broaden the job opportunities for women.”

On Wednesday morning the girls were shown some of the outdoor roles possible at Whitestone Contracting by three female employees - Central Otago landscaping leading hand Tracy Bowen, Dunedin divisional manager Laila West, and Ōamaru-based driver/labourer Georgia Campbell.

They got to try their hand at activities such as operating diggers, and using surveying equipment, while in the afternoon they were shown some of the more administrative roles available at the company.

Whitestone Contracting chief executive Paul Bisset said there were a number of benefits for the company to take part in the day 

“We’re all short of staff, and we’ve got half the population that hasn’t really been involved with the industry that well, other than probably admin roles. I think there’s more opportunities in the industry rather than Stop/Go or admin roles. 

“As the machine operators, to me, they tend to be a little bit more gentler with the gear, rather than some blokes. 

“There shouldn’t be any inhibitors there, if we can get some people on board and get them involved in the industry.”

“Thirty years ago I was on the dole and got involved in the industry. If you work hard, and take the opportunities, you can go places.”

It was the company’s first time taking part in the day, and Paul said there were areas the company could still improve to make the workplace more female-friendly.

“We are getting a lot better than we used to be. The more females we get, the better it’s going to get, and to me there shouldn’t be any blockers.

“If these girls decide to give this a crack, they’ll learn that every day’s different - and some of the projects you work on can be hard work when you’re doing them, but they’re really rewarding when it’s done. And if you drive past them in 20 years time and they’re still working well, you can tell your kids about it.”

He said adding females into the mix of a male-dominated industry worked well.

“It’s just that different point of view, you know. You get a room of blokes together and it can be hard to get stuff out of them. Females have that different lens, and that mixes quite well - it’s quite healthy.”

Kelly said people that get into the construction industry tended to love it.

“And they really, most often stay. 

“I don’t see a lot of people leaving it. It’s just probably kind of an unseen industry, but actually infrastructure is an essential service, and so needed. We want people that love their jobs in the industry at all levels.

“The cool thing about this industry is that you don’t need a qualification to get into it. So a lot of school leavers come and find their way here by accident, but they stay forever,” she said.

Ōamaru-based driver/labourer Georgia Campbell instructs a student how to operate a digger. PHOTO: Ashley Smyth