DESCRIPTION
The Accelerating Women into Automotive (AWiA) program delivered by the Victorian Automotive Chamber of Commerce (VACC) from July 2021 to February 2023 aimed to attract and recruit women into apprenticeships in the traditionally male-dominated automotive industry. It had 5 key outcomes it wished to accomplish:
- Remove women’s perceptions the automotive trade is not suitable for them
- Increase women’s employability skills, resilience and confidence when working in the automotive industry
- Change workplace cultures in relation to employing women in the automotive industry
- Prepare women better for entry to the automotive industry by integrating training and work placement
- Increase the completion rates of women apprentices in the automotive industry.
COVID had a huge impact on the program, reducing the ability for participants to interact face-to-face, go into workplaces and take part in training. Even during this difficult time, 60 participants took part in the program, and 28 women began automotive apprenticeships.
The program showed that an intensive effort involving dedicated VACC Facilitators who closely supported participants throughout was successful in attracting women to take part in an “industry taster”. It also showed that nearly half of participants then chose to begin a career in automotive and that the perceived culture of the industry could be broken down through careful work placement and support.
