With toughness and assertiveness against traditional gender images
Clear role patterns dominate the choice of career - even in today's open-minded age. Clichés are persistent, so there are still various professions that are clearly dominated by one gender. In these so-called women's and men's occupations, at least 80 % of the workforce is male or female.
Last year, the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training carried out an analysis of these clichéd occupations. The result shows that something is moving. In around 80 of the 105 male occupations surveyed, the proportion of female trainees has risen in the last twelve years. With an average of about 0.2 percentage points per year and occupation, a small but unmistakable trend can be discerned. A company from the Westerwald region is also pleased with this development. In the last two years, VWH GmbH has welcomed two female trainees for the profession of toolmaker and industrial mechanic, both of them passed the recruitment test with top marks.
Toolmakers at VWH develop large and precision tools and industrial mechanics develop special machines which are used in industry, research and medicine. The training is correspondingly extensive. In addition to conventional drilling, milling, grinding, filing or turning, tool and industrial mechanics also work on computer-controlled production machines, some of which they program themselves. The job description has so far been dominated by men. At VWH GmbH, however, there are also women at the machine and this has not only been the case since this year.
The proportion of women at VWH GmbH in general is currently exactly 11.4 %, while 7.6 % are working in the technology sector. One could not expect that women and men would strive equally for the profession of tool and industrial mechanic or other technical fields of work. However, it is important to create the same conditions for everyone, explains Managing Director Thomas Sturm. Prejudices have to be overcome and competences have to be recognised and promoted. Initiatives such as the annual Girls' Day and Boys' Day are therefore a pleasure for VWH GmbH to support and give interested junior staff an insight into the world of special machine and tool construction. Anyone interested in a profession should not be confused by drawers. An internship shows what the profession has in store for you - both in terms of content and personally. The company offers permanent opportunities for school internships.
"It's not gender that counts, it`s the performance. Teamwork and motivation are what count here," explains Patricia Feldpausch. She is a trained industrial mechanic and has been part of the VWH GmbH team for around three years. In April 2017, she successfully passed her trainer aptitude test and has been in charge of mechanical training ever since. "VWH GmbH encourages and drives you to get the best out of yourself. Superiors always back you up - this is a luxury that is not a matter of course in all companies today."
