A trainee electrician is urging other women to follow her career path, as males outnumber females in apprenticeships by nearly nine to one.
Amy Higgins (20) from Ballymartin in Co Down declared: “Get into it, because I love it — I’m glad I’m doing it.”
In September 2021, 3,816 males started an apprenticeship compared to just 432 females, according to Apprenticeships NI.
Amy has just finished her first year on a level 3 course in electrical installation.
The four-year apprenticeship includes one day’s schooling and four working with an employer.
Out of the 30 people on her course at South Eastern Regional College in Downpatrick, she is the only woman.
“There was meant to be another girl but she must have never ended up doing it,” explained Amy.
“There’s no girls in Newry Tech either.”
Apprentice electrician Amy Higgins at work
Women are much more likely than men to go to university, with nearly half opting for higher education.
This is compared to 34% of men, who are three times more likely than females to go into training.
Even for Amy, doing an apprenticeship wasn’t her first choice.
She originally intended to study nursing, but didn’t get accepted.
She explained: “Obviously I haven’t done it straight away because I thought I wanted to go to university — but it’s just not a known thing.
“Girls probably don’t think they can do it, and I probably didn’t think I could do it, which was why it was always just a back-up option and never a first option.
“They probably think there’s a lot of heavy work in it, and before I’d done it you’d think that boys would do it after fifth year because they’re not going to go to university and it’s an easy thing to do.
“But there’s so much thinking that goes into it, it’s really hard.”
She said: “From GCSE, I had applied for ‘sparking’ literally every single year as a back-up option because I just thought it was really cool.
“I remember when I was applying, my dad was all for it.
“But my mummy was like: ‘You need to be thinking, is that really what you want to do?’
“But she was obviously asking that because you wouldn’t know what goes into it when you’re not doing it yourself.
“Parents probably put a lot of pressure on you too, and they want you to go to uni and have something behind you.”
Now Amy is glad she finally decided to go for an apprenticeship as an electrician.
For other girls considering the same direction, she was adamant: “Just do it. Don’t float about like I did for years when really it was what I wanted to do the whole time — I was just scared to do it.”
Economy Minister Conor Murphy said there was “a strong and growing apprenticeship offering”.
“This has been achieved through working with employers across a wide range of sectors to develop apprenticeships that appeal to everyone,” he said.
“Whilst increasing numbers of women are choosing apprenticeships, there is a gender gap that I want to address.
“I want to encourage a more inclusive cohort of individuals to undertake and benefit from our apprenticeship provision. I recently announced The Apprenticeship Challenge Fund which will launch this autumn.
“This will provide support for new and innovative approaches to promote apprenticeship uptake from women, individuals with a disability and individuals from areas of deprivation.”