ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area honest opinions

>>She had a pretty sharp learning curve and it took a while to get the confidence of the men around her but you can do it. <<

The Good News:
Confidence will follow Competence. Work on competence first and have a good work ethic and high workmanship standards and everything will fall into place for you. Just work on things in the right order. If you are competent and a good worker I can't see how anyone could have a problem with your gender. Comptetence is a rare commodity. I prefer someone competent who I have confidence in and don't feel I have to babysit all day to someone my age/my gender/who looks like me/talks like me/likes the same thing to eat at luch that I do/likes the same sports team I do... At work I'm looking to get the job done, not looking for new fishing buddies.

The Bad News:
The trades are a sexist place, and what's worse, for a female, is that the trades are also 99.9% male. Most of them are not particularly cultured or educated. You are going to catch a little sexism and bigotry on the job regardless of how many laws against it stand written into the law books. But buying into other people's b.s. is voluntary on your part. You might need a thick skin at times, but console yourself with the fact that inside every shop there is also an informal heirarchy like in any dog pack. There is an "A" team, of the best people, a "B" team and a "C" team etc. etc. It's an unwritten rule, but these divisions exist even in a shop of "equals". Partly its human nature to form these cliques and partly its a countermeasure to isolate one's self (provided you have the clout wherever it is you work) from a lot of the, err.. inadequate... people that get hired and are always so difficult to get rid of (it seems). Anyway, work on competence and good work. If you are invited into the informal ranks of the A team wherever you work, that should give you the clout you need to deal with that little 2% of sexism/bigotry that seems to slip through the net of the most airtight laws/workplace practices/whatever.