I get asked pretty often by young women whether or not they should join the electrical trade.  I always tell them a resounding "YES!" However there are some sharp edges to the sword you carry as a female electrician in your first few years that you may want to be aware of before making the leap.

I've worked around a handful of female electricians over the years and have become familiar with their successes and struggles over that time.  Most female electricians end up being better electricians than the males they're around, because they have to be.  Being a woman who wears a tool belt is still something that is looked at as "bizarre" by most people.  Not just the ones you work with, but customers, builders, and other trades.  It's not a judgement that you "don't belong" its more of a rarity so seeing it is not common, and so makes people act goofy because they're not used to being around it.

As a woman you will be seen as "needing help" a lot.  Most guys in this trade are nice men, not all, but most.  They will want to help you out because they were raised to treat a woman like something that needs to be helped or provided for.  So if you're carrying something heavy they will probably offer to carry it for you.  I know some women that this really pisses off.  They don't want to be treated like a delicate flower, they want to be treated like any other person.

Customers will make comments regularly that "oh my god, you're a female wearing tools - isn't that weird?" - they don't mean harm by this, they really do think its something out of the ordinary and to them it will always stick in their mind.  Something you'll just have to get used to.

You will most likely have to work twice as hard as any of the guys around you, to earn the same respect.  This is very unfortunate but there is a sort of "ruggedness" or "toughness" that goes with the male bravado in this trade (all construction trades really).  When a woman comes in to this craft and starts doing the same job that these men are doing, some of them will feel attacked or threatened so they will be an asshole to you.  Most will not, in fact you will meet some of the most profound friend and mentors because 90% of the people you'll come across will accept you and give you respect for what you're doing.  But there are those who won't.  So you may find that to earn respect you have to work circles around other people, study more, know more, and do better work....for a few years, before you earn the respect of some of these hard-headed egoic men. And shitty enough, after gaining the respect of one, you'll have to keep doing it with each new one that you come across.

The last thing I'm going to touch on is the male/female relationship dynamic.  A lot of tradesmen don't know how to act when a female wears tools around them.  They will often be attracted to you, and will most likely precede their interactions with you on the basis that they can flirt with you rather than just talk to you.  You will get hit on and stared at frequently.  You have to be the one to teach them how to treat you.  That's just plain true for life too.  We teach people what is ok and what is not ok to say (and do) to us by either allowing them or not allowing them to treat us a certain way.  Either stand up for yourself or not. There's also a certain amount of attraction that can happen from a man working with a woman one on one everyday, eating meals together, spending morning, day, and sometimes evenings and weekends around them.  So naturally an attraction may occur between the two of you, which can be an amazing yet catastrophic thing to happen.  Just be smart and think about 5 years down the line rather than 5 minutes down the line.  Is this a good thing for you...and the other person.

That may seem heavily chocked with cons rather than pros - but the positive things are obvious.  Its the negative that I think you should be aware of.  The positive will find you.  I find that the women I know who have gotten in this trade have had life changing experiences and have changed lives around them.  It is definitely a good idea for women to get into this trade.  If you have any more questions please don't hesitate to ask.

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