In support of National Women in Engineering Day, tradesmen are being encouraged to speak with their daughters about being electricians.

Electrical industry body, NICEIC, carried out a survey that showed three quarters of male electricians would be pleased for their daughter(s) to go into a career in the trade, although a similar number also stated that they believe women would be discouraged from doing so due to old fashioned attitudes in the trade.

The results also showed that just one in five daughters had received any advice from education services on careers in the trade.

The ‘Jobs for the Girls’ campaign led by the NICEIC was established to encourage more women to take up a career in the trade and in the process plugging the growing gender and skills gaps.

NICEIC’s Chief Executive Officer, Emma Clancy, said that dads can play a very significant role in shaping their daughters’ career decisions, in particular in the trades sector where children historically follow in their father’s footsteps.

Ms Clancy hopes that National Women in Engineering Day can act as a catalyst for more and more women to take up a career in the industry, with encouragement from their fathers.

The ‘Jobs for the Girls’ campaign was first launched five years ago and since then more women have taken up a career in the industry, although numbers are still very low.

The survey asked over 100 electrical contractors their opinions about women in the sector and found that 90% of fathers feel it is their responsibility to give their daughters advice on career decisions.

However, only 20% of dads believe their child has received sufficient information from careers advice services or schools about opportunities in the trade.

Meanwhile, a quarter of the electricians surveyed said that their daughter has considered becoming an electrician, which is a significantly higher number than women entering the trade.