Having been diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, for Felicity Pettiford school was not a "big hit" - but hands-on work was something she loved.
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The 21-year-old has now established a career in construction and works as a head carpenter for Narellan-based All About Carpentry, building homes in the Illawarra, along the coast and the Macarthur region.
The NSW government hopes other women will follow in Ms Pettiford's footsteps as it aims to double the number of women in construction and offers up a scholarship for all apprentices, regardless of gender, to bridge the barriers some might face completing their training.
Under the Bert Evans Scholarship program, 150 people experiencing hardship will receive $5000 each year for three years.
Previous recipients have included people with disability, Indigenous people, and women in non-traditional trades.
Ms Pettiford won the scholarship as a second-year apprentice in 2020 and said it made a "massive, massive difference", helping her pay off her vehicle and buy the necessary tools.
She attributes the scholarship with getting her to where she is in her career today.
Ms Pettiford knew she wanted to be a carpenter at the age of 13 when she chose timber and construction as an elective in high school.
"I absolutely loved it, so I quickly lined up work placements in the industry [and] loved that even more," Ms Pettiford said.
She left school after year 10 and studied business administration in TAFE until she secured an apprenticeship just before her 16th birthday.
"The rewarding part... is probably just seeing the work that we've done at the end," Ms Pettiford said of what she liked about construction.
NSW Skills Minister Steve Whan said women only made up about 12 per cent of workers in construction and in the more non-traditional roles this figure fell to about 2 per cent.
But Mr Whan said it made sense for the economy to have as many people in vocational trades as possible to address the skills shortage.
"The bottom line is, we need the tradies and if we're essentially ignoring 50 per cent of the population, we're not going to meet the demands over time," he said.
It was also important that women had access to higher paying jobs like those in construction, he said, for their own individual financial security.
The state government is funnelling $20.2 million over three years into a Women in Construction program, which includes an initiative that has put project officers across 19 major infrastructure projects to implement strategies to make workplaces better for women.
Mr Whan said some projects, such as Snowy Hydro 2.0 and Sydney Children's Hospital, were already seeing good results with a higher percentage of women workers than average.
Ms Pettiford remains the only woman in her company in what is still an overwhelmingly male-dominated industry, but says there is more support for women now than when she first started out, a time she described as "really difficult".
She runs an Instagram account, @sydneybuilderchick, through which she hopes to build a platform as an ambassador for women in trades and give them the tools and confidence to pursue a career in the industry.
Applications for the Bert Evans Scholarship are open at bertevans.scholarshipsplatform.com until May 31.
Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
