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Article Type

Professional Proficiency

Article Abstract

Related Issue:

The authors use the skilled trades shortage as a unique context to pilot transformative approaches to changing culture and practice around equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in recruitment, progression, and retention of previously-excluded student groups, focusing on gender. To demonstrate how this approach can help achieve the necessary rapid increase in skilled tradespeople to address the labor shortage and its societal impacts, this article reviews the gender gap in Canada and the United States, incorporating recent research on diversity within the trades experience for female and gender-diverse participants. A framework for equity-oriented SEM is outlined, recommending strategies for cultivating a SEM culture within a trades department, and exploring strategies for increasing female and gender-diverse participation through partnerships for early awareness and pre-trades programming, with consideration for equity admissions in apprenticeship training, where that opportunity exists.

Author(s)

Sara Cousins has worked as the Manager, Trades Programs at Okanagan College in
British Columbia since 2018. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Strategic
Enrollment Management from Royal Roads University, a Certificate in University
and College Administration from the University of Manitoba, and a B.A. in
Archaeology from Simon Fraser University. The focus of her work has been on
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice (EDISJ), whether with and for
Indigenous communities in land rights and treaty negotiations or for the
provincial and federal governments in consultation and engagement with
Indigenous peoples, advising for the protection of cultural heritage sites,
land use or education. Her current role includes strategic planning and SEM,
including supporting the participation and success of Indigenous and female
students as part of the larger success of trades students, apprentice
admissions, connecting local education and industry partners to instructors
and students through mentorship and advisory committees. Cousins is the Chair
of the BC Apprenticeship Administrators Working Group and advises on
provincial level working groups for enrolment management. She was one of the
key authors for the first Okanagan College SEM plan and was instrumental in
the priority seat policies for female trades students at her college. Her most
recent research focus has been on increasing engagement with families in
trades awareness and long-term recruitment. Cousins is a member of the EDISJ
Strategy Working Group at Okanagan College, the Canadian Coalition of Women in
Engineering, Science, Trades and Technology, and the Women in Construction
committee of the Canadian Home Builders Association — Central Okanagan.

Delacey Tedesco is an academic professional with a Ph.D. in political science
from the University of Victoria (2016). She taught political theory at the
University of Victoria and Human and Urban Geography at the University of
British Columbia — Okanagan. She was a lecturer (assistant professor) in
critical international relations at the University of Exeter, in Cornwall, UK,
from 2017–2022, and remains an honorary lecturer there. Her award-winning
research and teaching focus on both conceptual and practical questions of
equity and decolonization, in the southern interior of BC and in international
contexts. Tedesco’s publications have appeared in journals and edited volumes
spanning politics and international relations, human geography, and
geohumanities. Tedesco returned to Kelowna in 2022 to become the inaugural
cultural advisor with the City of Kelowna, supporting the city’s work toward
truth and reconciliation and equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility.
In that role, she has built meaningful community connections, developed staff
learning programs, and supported a wide range of municipal planning projects
and collaborative initiatives. She joined Okanagan College in March of 2024 as
the inaugural associate director of equity, diversity, and inclusion, leading
OC’s work toward transformative inclusion of, for, and by students, staff,
instructors, faculty, and community partners. Tedesco maintains an active,
interdisciplinary research program with international collaborators.

Kelly Brochu is working at Okanagan College as Construction Trades Chairperson
and previously as a vocational instructor for carpentry. Academically, Brochu
has a Bachelor of Education from University of Alberta and completed the
instrumentation and control engineering technology program at St Lawrence
College. The combination of academic and technical training is what steers
Brochu’s life journey and further resulted in obtaining Journeyperson
Certification in both carpentry and scaffolding. Diversity has been widely
explored over Brochu’s time in the workforce, and he has spent time in the
Canadian Armed Forces, teaching at elementary and junior high schools in
various areas, including a fly-in school in Northern Manitoba, working as a
carpenter and/ or scaffolder, owning a construction business, working as a
principal at a small island school off of Vancouver Island and for the last
seven years, at Okanagan College, including recently joining the EDISJ
Strategy Working Group. Living and working in so many areas and communities
has pushed his passion to see people from any place or situation get the
opportunity to not just learn but to understand that regardless of what came
before, your new learning journey can start now and can be exclusive of what
may have been an unsuccessful learning journey from the past.

Tanya Tarlit has been working at Okanagan College in various capacities since
2005. Starting as an educational advisor, Tarlit moved to vocational
instructor, then student, graduator and co-op development coordinator, and
currently she is the Trades Program Administrator — working in various
employee groups has given her a unique perspective. Through all these
placements, student success is her greatest motivator, and transforming lives
and communities is a mission she takes to heart. Her progressive experience in
working with dual credit students, women in trades, and students with
disabilities allows for a unique perspective within SEM. Tarlit has a scope of
practical expertise that includes programming, curriculum development,
recruiting and advising high school and postsecondary students. Her
educational credentials include a Master’s Degree in Community Development, a
Bachelor of Management, a Provincial Instructors Diploma, and a Recreation
Administration Diploma.

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