Aftermarket April 2022

Fig 1 APRIL 2022 AFTERMARKET 15 www.aftermarketonline.net gender. There are women working across the industry for sure, but it is still very much a male-dominated trade. Same as other trades are often gender-biased. For example, primary school teachers are predominantly female. Equally, midwifery and nursing are also predominantly female, often with the assumption from childhood that doctors are male and nurses are female, although this is obviously not true. Likewise, most scaffolders are men, and most builders are men.” “I know in service reception, sales, admin, parts and management there's quite a few ladies. MOT wise, I know of a few Testers but I’ve not met a female master tech or lecturer. That would be the key to opening up the misconceptions of a male-only trade.” Tina replied: “We need to empower and embrace the women that do work in our trade.” Subsequent to the discussion, we followed up with Andy, and found that he has a female member of staff in his team, namely his mother Jeanette Burt, who was a midwife previously. We asked her about her experiences in the industry: “I originally trained as a midwife many years ago, then retired, but I wanted a job where I was meeting people and doing something completely different. It’s been great for me as I now get to meet everyone in the village. There are a lot of skills that can transfer across from midwifery. I was used to working under pressure and having to give people bad news. After all, cars don’t always do what they want you to do.” Did Jeanette think she brought something to the role that a man couldn’t? “I think so,” she replied. “Women customers often don’t know a lot about cars, and I think sometimes they can relate more to another woman. You can possibly put things more in layman’s terms for them, which always helps. I think we bring something that men don’t.” What did Jeanette think the industry could do to bring in more women? Not just on the front-of-house, but on the technician side? She concluded: “It has always been stereotyped as a man’s job, but it is something that women can do. I think it needs to be promoted more in schools. They tend not to be good at doing careers advice. It should be highlighted more. There are female engineers, why not female mechanics?” Air vane meter Perception or reality? Whether the automotive industry will attract more women into the workforce or not, the sector needs more people. According to the IMI, apprentice recruitment during 2021 was still 39% below levels seen in 2019, and it was low then too. This has a knock-on effect longer term. The organisation has also reported that only 5% of technicians are qualified to work on EVs. Without an urgent increase in numbers, by the 2030 ICE deadline when the sale of new petrol and diesel cars is set to end, the industry could face a 35,700 technician shortfall. Considering the number of technicians that the industry loses due to relatively low pay, and often tough working conditions, is it just a perception issue? If we are talking about having more female technicians in workshops, there are real-world practicalities. Changing how people see something is hard enough, changing how something really is becomes an entirely more complicated issue altogether. One answer might be to actually ask women and girls what they think about the sector. Fortunately, as previously reported in Aftermarket, the IMI Diversity Task Force has been looking at possible measures for the automotive industry to attract a more diverse workforce since April 2021. Among the various working groups is the Gender Identity Working Group, chaired by Peugeot CEO and IMI Vice President Linda Jackson Hon FIMI. Commenting in January when the Task Force’s interim report was published, she said: “We are pulling on the ‘real life’ experience of our group members and also looking across best practice already in place. Our combined ambition is to make a difference and offer pragmatic proposals to our industry through the development of key principles to embrace a culture of diversity.” The full report was due to be published on 17 March, coinciding with the IMI Annual Dinner, just as the April issue of Aftermarket was published, so you can expect to see more about this in our May issue. To stay in touch with the progress of the IMI Diversity Task Force, visit: https://tide.theimi.org.uk/about- imi/diversity-task-force We need to empower and embrace the women that do work in our trade ” Consider this , it’s not just about being on the tools; Many women have been and continue to occupy senior leadership roles in our industry, and help run businesses across the country. Looking at the more high-profile positions, the IAAF was led by Wendy Williamson for eight years, up until last summer. The NFDA has been led by Sue Robinson since 2005, and she was in a senior role in its parent organisation the RMI for many years before that. Bringing things closer to home, on Aftermarket magazine, as Editor I have been out-numbered by female colleagues for the last five years. Moreover, if you go back many years, my seat was previously occupied by Alison English, who was great in the role. We also have many female contributors, including Tina from CCM., Julia Kirton of Nene Jag Specialists and Rebecca Pullan from Carmaster in Harrogate, all three under the auspices of the Garage Inspector Graduates. Going back a few years, leading technician Hannah Gordon wrote many articles for us. Not that I like to mention it, but there are other magazines covering this industry, and the gender split in these titles is fairly even. This industry is absolutely full of women doing a fantastic job. As we have said before, there is more to this industry than just fixing cars. As technology moves forward, they will be able to bring even more to the table, and help elevate the whole sector. Final thought from the Editor...