School board plans to combat falling number of women with apprenticeship certificates
Manufacturers in Windsor-Essex want more young people to study trades
The percentage of women with an apprenticeship certificate in the Windsor region has dropped by more than five per cent over the past five years, but the public school board has a plan to bring that number back up.
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Almost 33 per cent of women in the area had completed an apprenticeship in 2011, according to census figures, but 2016 data released Thursday revealed that number has dropped to about 27 per cent.
Angela Ciarlariello-Bondy has been working as a teacher consultant for the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) at the Greater Essex County District School Board. She said there's an effort to make the program more "girl friendly."
"The girls themselves are actually coming up with the project ideas, and we want to connect them with a mentor in industry who is also female to come in and talk to them about how they can actually do this," Ciarlariello-Bondy said, adding past projects for precision metal students have included makeup kits and brushes.
"Students that are in the program love it," she added. "They love being out at work. It's really what they're interested in. They might not be interested in sitting in the classroom so they like being out and about learning different things."
Isabelle Kostanjebec isn't the type of student who learns best at a desk.
The Grade 12 student has been working with Reko International Group Inc. and operating a five-axis carbon machine she's nicknamed "Stanley" during her high school co-op and said it's giver her a "real feel for the real world."
Her father is a CNC machinist and she plans to follow in his footsteps, but Kostanjebec said she was the only girl in her class.
She wants to encourage other girls who are hands-on learners to try the trades and added using big machinery doesn't need to be intimidating.
"The programming part is just like a big video game," she said.
Dave Romanello, the general manager for tooling at Reko, said the company has been growing steadily for years but without a supply of young people interested in the trade they're often searching for workers.
Reko is a supporter of the OYAP program and currently has four students working in their facility. Romanello wants to see even more.
"We are able to expand our manufacturing [in Windsor] more than other places in Canada primarily because of the people. The skill is here," he said. "The key is to get the young people involved. You have to get the kids in here."