Embracing equity for International Women’s Day

Te Pūkenga NMIT celebrates female ākonga studying trades as they overcome gender stereotypes and stay true to themselves.

“My mum was not shy of DIY,” says Aryel Draijer. “That’s where it all started.”

Gaining confidence with tools when she was young, Aryel enrolled in Trades Academy at UCOL before joining Te Pūkenga NMIT in the Carpentry Pre-Trade Certificate.

“I now have the skills to confidently build a shed. We all have the skills from the course to potentially build our own place,” she said.

With her on the programme was Imogen Coleman-Mason, who agreed the skills she gained are invaluable.

“I will never regret the skills I have learned,” said Imogen. “Building is something I’ve always been interested in.”

Current Civil Engineering ākonga, Monique Dixon is already building houses, managing complete projects and driving the trucks necessary to get the materials on site.

“There’s such a shortage of drivers, so I just stepped up and did it myself,” she said.

“Women think differently, and we need that diversity in trades,” Monique said.

Monique has been impressed by how the tutors on the programme have done what they can to ensure she is supported with her studies.

“Te Pūkenga NMIT has acted very quickly to respond to requests from the females on the programme.”

Shar Illingworth, Georgia Gray and Devon Gardener have all completed their New Zealand Certificate in Aeronautical Engineering at Te Pūkenga NMIT and the three women were together at the annual New Zealand Association of Women in Aviation (NZAWA) rally last year.

“The New Zealand Association of Women in Aviation is such a great group, and there’s so much support available for women trying to get into such a male dominated industry,” said Shar.

The New Zealand Aviation Federation Scholarship, (details on our scholarships page(external link)), is open to women in the field of Aeronautical Engineering.

#EmbraceEquity.