Would you advise your DD to go into the trades?

[ItsFineReally]

1. University fees are now significant
2. We're always in need of plumbers, plasterers, electricians etc
3. Women often find it hard to find good flexible work while their children are young

Considering the above, why aren't there more women in the trades, and have you raised it as an option with your daughters when discussing future job roles?

I've just seen a lot of incidences of people posting on threads like this to say they are advising their kids to go into the trades and avoid university.

I just think it's turning into a bit of a sledgehammer to crack a nut. It's certainly a good thing to make more people aware that trades are great careers which enable people to make good money and have a good standard of living and I agree that people shouldn't automatically default to going to university unless they have thought through what they want to get out of it.

But a career as a plumber or an electrician won't work for everyone for many reasons: not everyone wants to do this sort of work or has the aptitude for it so it shouldn't be positioned as the default choice for everyone.

Also while I acknowledge that there are probably too many kids going to university without a clear idea of why, it would be a shame if the pendulum swung too far back to a time 40 or 50 years ago when bright kids who could have careers which require tertiary education are discouraged from doing so because their parents lacked the imagination to see beyond "plumber and electrician for all". As PPs have suggested, if you're not made aware that there are other choices open to you you are unlikely to seek them out.

It's got to be about the child and what suits the child, as opposed to a response to an ideologically-driven belief that too many people are going to university.

Define “financially able”. With loans? Rich enough not to need loans?

i was academically able, and financially with loans etc. I also had no clue what I wanted to do.

so I graduated with a shed load of student debt, which was comparatively little compared to now. This has meant when I did figure out what I wanted to do, I had a useless degree, too much debt and no ability to pay fees to do the degree to get me in the field I wanted.

the field I’m in now does not require a degree, and is better paid than the graduate jobs that do need my degree.

so I will advise my dd not to go to uni unless she knows what she wants to do and the degree will help. No point taking on 50/60k debt to get to the end, and realise the career you actually want needs a different degree, and be tied to a field you don’t want with no ability to retrain because you can’t afford the fees for a second degree. She can get a job and have a few years finding out what careers there are out there.

better to know what you want to do and find a degree to fit than have to make your career fit your degree that you chose at 18, with no clue why.

I agree with pp.

a manual job done correctly will keep you fitter for longer.

imo it’s much more damaging sitting at a desk for 9 hours a day. I was much healthier in a manual job outdoors working with animals than I am now.

i think we’ll see an increase in issues with sedentary lifestyles soon too. When I first started in an office I was still relatively active, moving around the office, going to see colleagues, pick up texts from the library, across the road to the canteen. Now I sit, everything is delivered to my desktop, canteens are now a microwave in the office, so I barely move.

Umm some of those of us who went into manual work also have degrees and degree level qualifications.

Yes I would if I had a DD trying to decide on a career
I have a close female friend who is an electrician and electrical inspector, she normally works on commercial properties on long term maintenance contracts eg pubs and big retailers - loves her job