NICEIC has launched its 'Jobs for the girls' campaign aimed at encouraging more women into the electrical contracting industry.
Although women represent at least half of the UK workforce, they are severely under-represented in most trade professions - many of which are facing huge skills gap shortages.
NICEIC aims to highlight the exciting opportunities available to females within the electrical industry and dispel the myth that trade professions are a viable career path for men only.
'This image of our industry as an exclusive one is a dangerous one. If we are to plug the skills shortage gap then we can't afford to dismiss half the working population,' said NICEIC's chief executive officer Emma McCarthy.
'There is now a good business case to employ more women. Consumers sometimes prefer to hire female contractors and our research highlighted that some female homeowners admit to feeling intimidated when having to deal with a male electrician.'
In 2007/2008 women made up just 1 per cent of Electrotechnical apprentice starts while recent figures indicate that less than one in every thousand electrical contractors is female.
As part of its campaign, NICEIC is working on a practical guide to help understand equality issues and give guidance to employers. It is also hoping to recruit more young females to its recently launched Apprentice Academy. The academy run in partnership with Bedford College aims to provide young students with the necessary training and skills to meet the demanding challenges of the industry.
For more information, visit www.niceic.com/contractor/jobs-for-the-girls