The EOC's investigation into occupational segregation, 'No More Jobs for the Boys or Jobs for the Girls', will focus on modern apprenticeships in five sectors: childcare, construction, plumbing, engineering and ICT. It wants to hear from men and women about their experiences of training or working in a sector dominated by the opposite sex.
Men still account for 99 per cent of modern apprenticeships in construction and 96 per cent in engineering, while 97 per cent of childcare apprentices are women, according to the EOC.
Julie Mellor, chair of the EOC, said the training and career choices young people have to make are difficult, but she added, 'This can be made even tougher if they come up against other people's stereotypical ideas about what sort of work they should do.
'The day that no-one gives it a second thought if the plumber who turns up on their doorstep is a woman, or if the nursery worker they leave their child with is a man, will be the day we know women and men really do have an equal range of choices.'
There was no room for the 'jobs for the boys or jobs for the girls mentality', she said. 'There are severe shortages of skilled staff in all the sectors we are focusing on, which is hardly surprising if the pool they are drawing from only includes half the population.'
The EOC inquiry, which has been welcomed by trade and industry secretary Patricia Hewitt, will also look at the different work that men and women undertake and the pay gap between them. Ms Mellor said, 'Women working full-time still earn 19 per cent less per hour than men, while for part-time women workers the gap is a shocking 41 per cent.'
People prepared to contribute to the investigation by sharing their experiences of training or working in a sector dominated by the opposite sex, or their experiences of making career choices, should write to Anne Madden, Communications and Change, EOC, Arndale House, Manchester M4 3EQ or e-mail anne.madden@eoc.org.uk.
