Hacia Atherton is no stranger to trade sites. Growing up in a family that has five generations of plumbers, and owns a manufacturing company, she is well accustomed to the male-dominated world of tradies.

She also knows first hand the biases and challenges that women face when entering these spaces for work and business.

“It’s a very complicated puzzle to change those work environments,” Ms Atherton said.

“When men get together in a group they can get that pack mentality. But what a man says in a pack is very different from what he would say alone.”

The employment barriers and opportunities for women in trades was Ms Atherton’s inspiration for founding and directing her business, Empowered Women in Trades (EWIT).

EWIT, established in 2020, seeks to increase female representation in skilled trades throughout Australia by changing perceptions of women in trade-based workplaces.

“Women bring a different way of looking at things,” Ms Atherton explained.

“Women solve problems differently … the industry has done everything the same way for hundreds of years, and by having women in, we can have things done differently – smarter and more innovative.”

Another big problem for women entering trades, Ms Atherton said, is that they can’t see other women in senior leadership roles, which sends the message that there is no career progression available for them in those areas.