An Kentish female apprentice builder hopes to inspire more women to pursue careers in construction. Dartford resident Jessica Amdemariam, a building services engineer, claimed that women in movies served as her inspiration for choosing the field.

The 21-year-old said: “In Fast & Furious and all of that I used to find it so cool when I would see female mechanics.”I grew up thinking ‘that’s who I want to be, I want to be as cool as her’.”

The home improvement business Kingfisher reports that women make up just 2% of tradespeople in the UK. Miss Amdemariam competed in the Screwfix Trade Apprentice 2024 competition as a semifinalist.

She said: “If you were to tell me when I was in secondary school that I’m doing the job that I’m doing now I would have said that is not possible.” The Screwfix Top Tradesperson of the Year 2023 went to Astrid Arnold from Devon. She received her training at an all-female building college that is now closed, and she hopes to see more of them.

“You can’t be something you can’t see,” she declared. Many women, in my opinion, don’t believe it is right for them.” According to Ms. Arnold, advisors must to be knowledgeable about the building sector and schools ought to encourage females to pursue careers in it. She continued: “Career advisers don’t advise 16-year-old girls to go and work on a building site, they just don’t.” Adding more all-female universities, according to Miss Amdemariam, will contribute in “building a community.”

She stated: “I think it would make women feel more comfortable to come into the industry because it can be quite intimidating being the only girl.”