The Numbers
Three percent. That is the current female share of New Zealand’s trade workforce. BCITO’s own apprenticeship programme has lifted its female participant share from less than one percent to six percent over five years — meaningful progress, but a long way from the industry’s stated goal of 30 percent female representation. Gateway programme (school-based trade exposure) female participation has doubled since 2022, suggesting the pipeline is building for a shift that will take another generation to fully materialise.
The BCITO Actions Speak Louder campaign is built around the recognition that changing these numbers requires more than encouragement. It requires removing the specific practical barriers that prevent women from entering and remaining in the trades — and it requires employers to make changes to how their workplaces operate.
The Practical Interventions
The campaign has identified and is addressing a specific set of practical barriers:
- Free period products and sanitary bins on job sites — the absence of these basics has been cited by women as a genuine deterrent to working in construction
- Women’s workwear in appropriate sizes — the availability of properly fitting PPE and trade clothing is not universal, and ill-fitting equipment affects both safety and comfort
- Discounted portable toilets for sites without fixed facilities
- Injury-prevention programmes addressing the ergonomic risks specific to women’s body types in physically demanding trades work
These are not symbolic gestures. They are the minimum infrastructure required for a worksite to be genuinely accessible to female workers rather than merely theoretically open to them.
Mentorship
Women who have entered the trades consistently identify mentorship as the most significant factor in their success and retention. Haley Watts, one of the campaign’s featured voices, described the impact directly: “Having a mentor I can ring any time has been huge.” The isolation of being a minority in a workplace that was not designed with you in mind is a genuine challenge — having a direct point of contact who has navigated the same environment provides both practical support and the evidence that the path is navigable.
Retention Across the Sector
The campaign’s findings on retention are sobering for the sector as a whole. Over one-third of construction workers have been employed for less than a year. Only six percent remain in the same role after five years. The sector’s retention problem is not unique to women — but it is more acute for a group that may face additional cultural and practical barriers to staying. Addressing the structural conditions that drive high turnover — workload, management culture, flexibility, progression pathways — benefits the whole workforce, not just the women the campaign is targeting.
