Shirley Westeinde is a Canadian  woman who is appealing to women to get trade school training and get a job in the trades.  The Ottawa, Ontario woman has made a career in the trades and she wants to tell other women that they can, too.

“I look at some of the intricacies in the electrical work and the wiring and the thought process that has to go through an electricians mind to make sure that everything is connected correctly,” says Westeinde. “That’s something that women are usually very good at.”

However, women aren’t really moving into the skilled trades in a big way. For a year, she was the Chair of the Candain Construction Association and she used her clout to heavily promote women in the skilled trades. However, “in the end it still doesn’t seem to be an area that is appealing to women.”

She still believes that the creativity and the attention to detail are something that can make construction “women’s work.”

“I think a woman, if anything, has a better opportunity to succeed just because many female characteristics are very germane to what is required in the construction industry. ”

Westeinde is currently chair of the Algonquin College Board of Directors.