A Canberra electrician is lighting up the local construction industry, while sparking more interest in women pursuing a career in the trades.
Julia Bedin, 23, is a newly licensed electrician with Martin Donnelly Electrical Services and already has a long list of national awards to her name.
Ms Bedin has won the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) ACT Apprentice of the Year and the National Apprentice of the Year awards, along with the Tradeswoman of the Year at the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) Crystal Vision Awards.
After a short stint at university followed by a gap year searching for a career that felt right for her, Ms Bedin’s mother suggested he try an apprenticeship.
Deciding to give it a go, she applied and was accepted for an electrical apprenticeship, which she says has “opened up her eyes”.
“I didn’t know what a Phillips head screwdriver was, a flat blade or power tools or anything,” Ms Bedin laughed.
“So, I was quite fresh to the industry and understanding it all.”
Ms Bedin “really enjoys” being an electrician, admitting she “wouldn’t do it otherwise”.
As a woman in a predominately male industry, she hopes that girls seeing her win awards for construction will give them the representation that has been lacking.
“These girls seeing me as sort of like a leader or someone that they can look up to and then telling them you can be an electrician or in a trade… Especially when you’re young, seeing that type of like a visualisation if you traditionally think only guys can do those jobs,” Ms Bedin says.
The representation of and spotlight on females in construction not only helps women thinking about starting a trade, but it makes a difference to women already working on job sites to know they’re not alone.
Walking onto a site with 200 men as the only woman can be anxiety inducing, says Ms Bedin, but she’s glad she’s there to befriend the women coming after her, who hopefully won’t have to experience being the only one.
She says her career has been overwhelmingly positive, and she thoroughly recommends any woman considering becoming a tradie, to just give it a go.
“They [male colleagues] never made me feel like I wasn’t good enough or being a girl was different. I was never treated differently,” she says.
“So, I think they gave me a lot of confidence going from my career to take on more opportunities.”
Director of Martin Donnelly, Rod Drew, tells CW of the transformative change he’s witnessed during his 40 years in the construction industry.
He says a few decades ago, women ceased to exist on job sites and it was “very” male dominated.
Martin Donnelly were influenced a few years ago to bring women into the business and wondered how it would work in their industry.
A main component of the decision was the resource issue that continues to plague the construction industry, so Mr Drew says they decided to broaden their apprentice search and see how they go.
The results proved successful, and he says it’s worked “very well” to the extent that they now have a policy to engage at least a couple of first year women through their trade.
Although men continue to hold the majority of jobs in construction, Mr Drew says “it’s different now” and “far better” with women on the scene.
“We’ve removed a lot of rough elements from construction and from workshops and from a lot of areas by having more women involvement,” he says.
Women working alongside men has “tidied the guys up a lot”, Mr Drew says, and it’s good to see women moving up the trade pay rates.
“They’re [women] technically sound or if not, probably slightly better, because they got a different focus than guys,” he explains.
“Technically they can do anything the guys can do. The argument about strength and bulkiness isn’t an argument, because under all the OH&S conditions, you just get another person to help you.
“So, you’re using your brain, not your brawn. I think it’s good for us. It’s really good for us.”
To any other construction company weary about opening their gates to women, Mr Drew’s advice is to “come over and have a little bit of time with us” to see how it works at Martin Donnelly.
“Just see what we do. We don’t treat them any differently,” he says.
“The guys have become very protective of the girls straightaway. It’s not that they’re female, it’s that they’re part of their team and that’s the way they operate.
“These guys are only in their own early 30s as well. So, they’re used to it.”
Now, their goal is to influence more women to join the trades and train up their skills, just like Ms Bedin.
While the reality may differ from the stereotype with most men tending to welcome the addition of more women on construction sites, Mr Drew and Ms Bedin agree it can still be intimidating.
“It’s fairly daunting when you’re dealing with a lot of big guys doing construction formwork early in the project,” Mr Drew says.
Ms Bedin says she has never experienced any discrimination from men in her career, but it can be intimidating and challenging to be the only woman on site.
“Sometimes dealing with only guys can be challenging because I feel like sometimes they do underestimate you, maybe even from other trades. I always get asked if I’m still an apprentice, but maybe [that’s] because I’m young,” she says.
“Sometimes I think you do need to prove yourself. But that’s okay. I’ve always been confident in my abilities and don’t let other people like step over me.”
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