This is yet another example of 'affirmative action' designed to try and achieve a 50/50 gender split in the work force and quite frankly it's ridiculous.
If they think the only reason women don't get into it is because of money, they are sadly deluded.
Let's be honest about the job... we spend a disproportionate amount of time knee deep in carp of various forms, being exposed to who knows what. Most women don't want to do that. Couple with the sometimes odd working hours that take you away from family and friends and the job gets even less appealing to most women.
Plus, you have to have the right mentality to get on with the other tradies you are inevitably going to meet along the way. Too many women these days hear sexism and bigotry in everyday conversation... you know, the kind of smutty stuff blokes rib each other about for example. The worst of it is, the dirtiest conversations I've ever witnessed were with an all female group of friends attending a wedding together. I think it would have had most of you lot blushing, but you're not allowed to even contemplate similar conversations... it's disgusting quite frankly, the hypocrisy is just beyond it.
I can picture it now, special snowflake is enticed into this job through some scheme to equalize the workforce gender balance and goes to the wholesalers for the first time... big burly bloke gives her an impromptu hug... SEXUAL ASSAULT! And that will be that! This happens, I enjoy a great rapport with the guys I bump into regularly at the wholesalers and some of the conversations are brilliant because they know I'm not a special snowflake that gets easily offended.
Leave people to make their own decisions, don't offer incentives that aren't available to everyone, let the gender distribution balance itself out and stop worrying about something which is entirely inconsequential. People who want to work in a particular field will, regardless... I did and I had (and continue to have) a thoroughly rewarding career.
I thought the problem these days were women NOT being paid the same as men in the same job. Although this is a bursary... not actually wages for a job.
Good too see more girls getting into the trade. We'll just have to watch our language on site, lads.
The gender pay gap is a load of tosh... it's demonstrably false when you get down to the nitty gritty of what jobs people actually do rather than just using things like median and mean within a particular company. The example that springs to mind is pretty recent... shop floor workers vs. warehouse staff... the jobs are entirely different, with one being dominated by performance targets and very unsocial hours (lots of night shifts), but those differences appear to have been brushed aside because they are an inconvenient factor that splits the two jobs and mean it's not a case of equal pay for equal work, just the number of hours worked.
And why is it good to see more women in the trade? Just curious really because your comment about language is really only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to women causing issues in the workplace. Consider this... there is a growing number of men in business who actively refuse to have meetings alone with female members of staff due to the risk of future accusations of harassment... how would that work if you and a girl got sent to say a switch gear room? If I were you I'd take a chaperone to rule out the possibility of future claims. This is a generalisation (which are bad) but as I said in another thread, this kind of issue is at the back of my mind with regards to staffing if I decide to take someone on. The current climate is guilty until proven innocent with regards to sexual harassment (or listen and believe as it's often referred to on-line) and very often the accusations are made publicly through social media... just the mere accusation can destroy people (and has). Encourage the wrong type of people into various male dominated industries and you'll see a rise in this kind of issue which will only make it worse for those of us who didn't need an encouragement and who are more than happy to enjoy the banter that comes with working with mostly men.
It's brilliant and quite frankly, with my selfish head on, I don't want it to change and it will if more women are forced into it.
