Recruiting more women into traditional male occupations such as plumbing and engineering could help to solve the acute skills shortages crippling parts of British industry, the Government said yesterday as it launched a scheme to persuade more girls into a career in construction.

Although the number of young people on apprenticeships has doubled in the past decade, female apprentices have made few inroads into industries dominated by men. Only 2 per cent of engineering and plumbing apprenticeships are held by women. To counter this, the Government said yesterday that it wanted to encourage young women to think about becoming electricians or plumbers instead of hairdressers or childminders.

John Denham, the Skills Secretary, said: “At present, nearly half of all apprentices are women . . . But we need to go further. We need more women to take up apprenticeships, especially in areas such as engineering and construction, to tackle current skills shortages.” The minister was speaking at the national appren ticeship awards last night. Seven out of the 12 winners were women, three from industries with a predominantly male workforce.

Catherine Turner, of JTL, which runs programmes to encourage young women to think about careers in construction, says girls often outshine the boys. “It’s raising the standards of boys because there’s the competitive element and the boys don’t want the girls to beat them.”

Thirty girls started as plumbing apprentices in 2006-07 compared with eight the year before, while 81 became electricians in 2006-07, up 125 per cent from the previous year.

Only 6 per cent of employers have apprenticeship schemes but by 2013 every young person with the right qualifications will be entitled to an apprenticeship. It is hoped one in five teenagers will take up the offer.

Case study

Victoria Dempsey, 17, always wanted to be a fashion designer. But when she realised she could end up as a sales assistant rather than in Milan or Paris she made a radical decision. She became an electrical apprentice after seeing an advert for a female only taster day in the construction industry.

“My friends were gobsmacked. I used to do my nails and be quite girly and now I’m just completely different.”

Victoria now spends her days travelling around Rotherham in a van, soldering pipes and mending boilers for clients in between lessons at college. Once she is trained, she hopes to use her design skills to move into electrical design and installation.

“I haven’t got any regrets at all,” she says, “The people are brilliant and I really enjoy my job. I couldn’t dream of doing anything else. I get to get my hands dirty and I have no nails whatsoever now.”

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