This project, established by the ESITO Board, seeks to explore, from a company perspective, the value added by female trainees to the industry and to understand both real and perceived barriers to female participation in the electricity supply trades qualification and work.

ESITO is concerned that there is a strongly held attitude within the electricity supply industry that females in general are not capable of doing line mechanic jobs. There is the perception that a key barrier to female participation in such jobs is the assumption they are not physically strong enough and that there are uniform and health and safety concerns relating to women.

What will the research add to the project?

The research will seek to answer a number of questions that will provide an independent assessment of the value, worth and merit of the project. This is important both for the electricity supply and other industries where gender segregation is found. The key questions the research will seek to answer are: 

1. Does isolation and lack of peer group limit women’s recruitment and retention in line mechanic jobs?
A key output from the research will be to assess whether having a cohort or critical mass of women might make a difference both to the trainees’ retention in training and in the industry, and also as a demonstration to potential female recruits and to other companies in the industry of this strategy. 

2. Does the Health & Safety model used in the electricity supply industry for line mechanics sufficiently consider issues that might affect women relative to men?
The health and safety components associated with the electricity supply industry are a central area of organisational concern in general and a loci for expressed concern about individual physical attributes and protection required for the job.

3. What are the work-related attributes and qualities that are valued in line mechanic roles (including trainee line mechanics) in the industry and to what extent are these exhibited by female and male trainees?
Beyond understanding how the workplace dynamics themselves ensure full participation by a female cohort in training and work, the research will seek to understand what advantages, or differences, may exist for companies from increasing gender diversity in line mechanic roles. This is important in order that the findings are of practical use in the industry.   

Photos at the Launch on 17 August 2010