Apprentices challenge gender stereotypes
Fri, 13 March 2015
In honour of National Apprenticeship Week, Tameside College decided to give 12 lucky Apprentices from Joinery and Hair and Beauty a chance to swap courses for the day to see what each area was really like.
Although initially intimidated by the buzz of activity and sound of drilling in the Joinery Workshop, after an introduction to basic woodwork from Construction Trades Curriculum Leader Carl Shaw, the Hair and Beauty Apprentices got to work putting together bird boxes. Level 2 Hairdressing Apprentice Georgia said of her experience: “We were a bit worried at first because it’s something that we never thought we’d do or even be able to do, but as our bird boxes came together we really started to enjoy ourselves. We hope our Mum’s like them as they’re all getting one for Mother’s day!”
Meanwhile Joinery students headed to the Tameside College Salon to try their hands at shampooing, blow drying and styling hair. Level 2 Carpentry Apprentice Sammy Ireland said: “We’re always up for a challenge in Joinery and dealing with hair instead of wood is definitely a challenge for us! We’ve all had a great time trying something new and getting an idea of what the Hair and Beauty Apprentices do on their course.”
Commercial Director, Cathy Hough who initiated the swap said: “The idea behind the switch was to challenge gender stereotypes in certain industries as construction is predominantly male dominated and Hair and Beauty is predominantly female dominated. We wanted to show that by swapping the Apprentices that they could thrive in another industry as well as enjoy learning a new craft stereotypically aimed at the opposite sex. It challenges them to give another area of study a go and may even change their perspective on other career paths.”
For more information on Apprenticeships and the vacancies we have, come and join the Apprenticeship team at Ashton Market on Saturday 14th March 10am-3pm or call the Student Services team on 0161 908 6789.