Construction sites are not for girls who are afraid of getting their nails broken

The popularity of vocational training is on the up, but girls are still in short supply in the technical course programmes

print this

By Ilona Hietanen and Marjukka Liiten
     
      The number of study places in vocational schools is to be increased, as the popularity of vocational training is growing fast in Finland.
     
The number of primary applicants in this spring’s joint application period was 67,000, which is 5,000 more than in the previous spring.
      Around half of all those who finished comprehensive school this spring applied for vocational training.
      Now attempts are being made to increase the number of study places with the help of temporary funding.
      The government allocated a total of an additional EUR 4.4 million to this form of training in the current year, which is equal to about 1,000 new study places annually.
      There will be more: in its supplementary budget, the government is proposing a supplementary appropriation of EUR 7.7 million, along with which the number of study places would increase by another 1,750.
     
It has become a bit of a worry that girls with good school grades could snatch all the extra study places from right under the noses of boys with lower grades.
      Mika Tammilehto, the Director of the Vocational Education Division at the MInistry of Education and Culture, estimates that the fact that girls are applying for technical training programmes is bound to reflect the popularity of vocational education and training, even on a general level.
      Nevertheless, he points out that the girls’ selections of courses to study continue to be very traditional.
     
One cannot see any frenzied rush of girls at the housebuilding workshop in the Vantaa Vocational College, Varia, for instance.
      One really has to look hard for the few girls who are present, as with the safety overalls and helmets everyone looks much the same.
      Sonja Möller, aged 17, is found standing next to a newly finished playhouse. She is studying in her first year to become a housebuilder.
      ”I have always wanted to do things with my hands. I knew at the begining of the lower secondary school that I wanted to work in the construction industry”, Möller notes.
      Amer Majer, aged 18, who has studied for one year longer, ended up in the construction line at Varia, as she was not admitted to the restaurant and catering course programme. The randomly-chosen course of study has proved a good move.
      ”The best thing about this is that one can do real work and you do not have to sit around in classrooms”, Majer notes.
     
In Majer’s class there are three other girls.
      ”At the beginning it was more like we were helping the boys. Now in the second year we have been allowed to do things by ourselves”, Amira adds.
      Kaarlo Lukkarila, the director of Varia’s technology branch, says that in the technical line the dropout percentage of girls is higher than that for boys.
      ”If the father is a plumber, the daughter may also become a plumber. However, if the line of study is chosen only because of money interests, motivation is not always sufficient for many years of studying”, Lukkarila argues.
     
In Majer’s opinion, girls get along in the building branch just as well as boys. They certainly have to put up with outdoor work and a fair bit of dirt, and it is not really a place for painted nails and haute couture.
      ”New acquaintances are surprised at my choice of course, but my family is rather proud of me, I think”, Majer notes.
     
The officials at the Ministry of Education and Culture are glad that there have been enough applicants for all branches and lines in this spring’s joint application period.
      ”None of the courses offered has been undersubscribed, with less than one applicant per study place”, Mika Tammilehto says.
      In his opinion, the number of study places should be increased, particularly in growth centres.
     
The joint application period for 2010 ended at the end of May.
      The student selection results will be announced by the end of June.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 28.5.2010


Links:
  Ministry of Education: Vocational Training

MARJUKKA LIITEN AND ILONA HIETANEN / Helsingin Sanomat
marjukka.liiten@hs.fi, ilona.hietanen@hs.fi