Search results

In 1999 and 2000, Manufacturing Learning SA (South Australia) conducted a survey of the process manufacturing industry sector in South Australia and its skill needs. The purpose was to develop a profile of the sector and its skill needs to inform the implementation of vocational education in the sector. As part of this survey, data on the position of women in production were collected. Women make up approximately a quarter of the process manufacturing industry workforce but the findings reveal a discriminatory pattern of employment for women, who are more likely than men to be employed in part-time and casual positions and to experience limited access to traineeships. There is a tendency for women to be employed in low-skilled production jobs with very few women in supervisory positions. The author considers the reasons for women's exclusion from high skilled production jobs and the implications for their access to vocational education and training (VET). It is suggested that this problem is not just one of equity but of whether the industry is making full use of the skills of the workforce.