From January 27th until the 31st, Lille Metropole VET Centre hosted a group of 10 young girls during a dedicated week, “Women in the construction industry, let’s talk about it!”, organised as part of the European project « Women Can Build ».
The aims of this project are to remove obstacles to cultural barriers, to abolish existing gender stereotypes in the construction sector, to initiate and make the female public discover the multiplicity of trades offered by the building and civil engineering industry.
During this week, supervised by the VET Centre team, these young girls had the opportunity to achieve works in plaster, painting, mosaic and carpentry workshops. Both the trainers and the participants played the game, volunteering to acquire new skills, thanks to this unique professional experience. 9 of these volunteers came from the EPIDE (Institution for integration into employment) whose primary mission is to enable young people furthest from employment to take part in a positive dynamic of integration and to lead them to build their place, in a sustainable way, in the professional world and in the society, so they become actors of their own future.
At the end of this week, when asked “Would you be willing to do it again?”, all said yes.
Trades and programme
The trades they knew were: Tiler, Concrete worker, Roofer, Mason, Community building maintenance, Carpenter Manufacturer, Carpenter installer, Fitter in sanitary installations, Fitter in thermal installations, Fitter in thermal and acoustic installations, Painter, Plasterer, floor Layer, professional title for Site Team Leader.
The programme they followed was as follows:
Monday— Plasterer Workshop:
Agile, fast, precise, thorough and resistant, this is the portrait of the plasterer. He/she prepares perfectly smooth and polished surfaces for painters or carpenters. Alone or in a team, on new construction or reno-vation sites, the plasterer can also be a mason or a painter in the sector. The specializations of stucco plasterer or ornamentalist staffer offer good opportunities.
Tuesday— Tiler, mosaic Workshopmosaic Workshop:
As a construction worker, the tiler-mosaicist intervenes after the mason and the plasterer to dress walls and floors. His/her qualities are precision and patience for the cutting and the laying of the tiles, the taste which he/she will choose the materials and arrange the colours. He/she is the artist of floors and walls. Creative, he/she knows how to adapt the lifestyle and tastes of his/her clients.
Tuesday— Wednesday — Painting Workshop:
He/she works for building development and finishes company. In addi-tion to the installation of specific coatings (especially paint), he/she produces decorative finishes: imitations of marble or wood, trompe-l’oeil, application of gildings, etc. He/she knows how to choose the mate-rials and paints to use. His/her aesthetic training allows him/her to advise clients on the choice of products and accessories, the harmony of colours and the decorative layout of the premises. On a job site, he is au-tonomous and responsible for his/her work.
Thursday — Carpenter Workshop:
To work the wood, to give it a second life, it is his/her trade. The car-penter spends the main part of his time in his/her workshop. Cup-boards, floors, stairs, doors, windows, shutters: all woodwork must be conceived, designed, cut, mounted, laid, varnished or tinted. With the concern to respect the structures and the sealing. This professional must be skilful and master the basics of geometry. While wood re-mains his/her preferred material, he/she now uses aluminium, PVC, agglomerated or laminated panels, etc.
Thursday — Exchanges, debate on the place of women in the construction and civil engineering industry.
Friday — Visit of the Company STELLA LOISIRS BABY-FOOT.