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Case studies

Why women love working in the manual trades

Added: 18 February 2008. Last updated: 16 May 2008.

Whats the best thing about your job?

For me, coming from a person who’s been at home and with no self-esteem and no confidence, I’m actually doing something, and...I enjoy everything about it, every aspect of it.
Natasha Greaves, Plumber


The travelling. Being somewhere different. I like that.
Penny Gray, Painter and Decorator


When you’ve finished. To look and say, “I’ve done that” you know. To make something, and see someone using it, or to know that you can help someone with it. To make things look nice.
Lorraine Reid, Carpenter


I can turn around and say “I did that“. And I just like all the different things I can do. By doing construction I’ve learned so much – not just carpentry. Everything – maintenance, everything involved in construction... You think, if you go into carpentry, it’s just pure carpentry, but it’s not. There’s other things, cos you’re around them anyway, so you’ve got to learn them.
Anne Marie Watson, Carpenter


I suppose sense of satisfaction. Like – doing a re-wire, for example, is really nice. You’ve done a whole house and it’s brand new, and all working, clients have got sockets where they want them, and lights that they want... And I think a spin-off that I wasn’t really expecting is the money’s actually quite good! I didn’t go into it [for that]...But I’m probably earning what I was earning before now, as a manager, which is really nice.
Donna Lister, Electrician


The freedom. Just never getting bored. There’s never a sense of monotony.
Kerry Murphy, Painter and Decorator


Being in control. We [Sally and her business partner Jess] went from an industry where we sat on the end of the phone, waiting for someone to call you “ and that was, no matter how good you were, that was the stark reality. And what’s good about this is that, even though it’s difficult, you can always do something to improve your chances of getting work
Sally Gray, bespoke kitchen-fitter/Carpenter


Getting to take things apart and see how they work, learning about how things work...And knowing that I am being trained in a skill that will make me employable for the forseeable future.
Annie Kemp, Plumber