70% of young adults want to learn a trade, but almost half have not had the opportunity to learn one in school.
That’s according to new research from Chadwick's which looked at views on careers in construction.
Shauna Doyle went from beautician to tarmac contractor and is now involved in an initiative helping to spread the message that the trades are for everyone.
“I did always want to be a beautician, but when I was in school, we were never given the option to do things like the trades,” she told The Pat Kenny Show.
“I grew up in a family business; when I was younger, I was always out on site.
“But it just never even came into my head that it would be an option at the time for me to do it because I was a girl.”
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Ms Doyle said that she worked in the beauty industry for seven years, but when she moved home from the UK after the birth of her son, she asked her father and her uncle if she could become more involved in the family tarmacking business.
“I had kind of intended that it would be more so in the office,” she said.
“But then once I actually started working with the lads, the agreement was that I had to start at the bottom and work my way up.
“Because there's no point in me sitting in the office, not having a clue what actually goes into the work.
“So, that's what I've been doing now for the past eight years, I've been working my way from the bottom.”
Female builder analyzing floor plan while working at construction site. Image: Maskot. 18 May 2021According to Ms Doyle, parents and teachers alike should make more of an effort to encourage students to go into trades, rather than placing so much focus on third-level education.
“Even the fact that four out of five trades people have worked on something else first, I hate to hear that it's kind of like a second option,” she said.
“I think that with the work that's being done now, it's really trying to focus on the fact that it shouldn't always be a second option and that it should be encouraged more.”
Main image: Apprentice and trainer in a metalworking company. Image: ndustryview / Alamy Stock Photo. 26 February 2015
