Gender Justice in Canada's Trades and Construction Sector: How Leaders Can Engage Men

Описание: Demand for skilled trades and construction workers in Canada is soaring. However, these sectors face challenges related to employee mental health, and struggle to recruit from underrepresented groups. What does gender have to do with this?


Men comprise the majority of the workforce in these sectors, yet they still face challenges. Trades and construction workers are more affected by substance use and addiction than any other sector. Since 2016, approximately three out of four opioid-related deaths were men, and 30 to 50% of those employed worked in trades at the time of their death.


Physical work, isolation, and a hyper-masculine culture that stigmatizes help-seeking has created the perfect storm for this sector to have among the highest rates of drug-related deaths and suicide. This needs to change.


Only 5% of skilled trades workers in Canada are women. Recent interviews conducted by YWCA with over 100 women and gender-diverse workers in skilled trades found that over 90% of them experienced sexual or gender-based harassment at work. For 2SLGBTQ+ people who do not adhere to traditional ideas of gender, construction and trades are often spaces of social exclusion, violence, and lack of psychological safety.


This reality discourages women and 2SLGBTQ+ people from entering the workforce, and for those that do enter, it can present barriers to retaining them. However, it's essential to recognize that gender-based violence and harassment don’t occur in isolation. Addressing organizational culture (rather than just at the individual level) is far more likely to eliminate workplace gender-based violence.


So what steps can we take to progress gender justice and prevent violence in Canada’s trades and construction sector? How can we create safe, healthy workplaces where our current and future workforce thrives?