Mechanical engineering: it’s not just for the boys

Kanisha Stevenson (30) has been working at Spunlite Poles for six years now, and says she would wholeheartedly recommend a career in mechanical engineering to anyone who enjoys a job where they can use their hands.

Spunlite Poles has four sites in Christchurch, and Kanisha manages a team of round 16 people, all but one of them men, who work to manufacture the poles that hold up our street and traffic lights. When we ask her if she enjoys working with a team of blokes she could not be more complimentary, “ Of course you have to be thick skinned, but everyone here is great to work with, and I get heaps of support from my manager.” Neither is she the lone ranger when it comes to gender at Spunlite, there is another female welder within the company who works in a different division.

Born in Cromwell, Kanisha moved to Australia at the age of 8, returning to New Zealand in 2014 where she worked in hospitality. Tired of the long hours, difficult customers and low pay, Kanisha tried her hand at a couple of different trades, including stints in electrical work and painting, before walking into the careers office at Ara to find out what trades were available to women in Christchurch.

Welding looked like something she might be good at, so she duly enrolled in a year-long pre trade course in mechanical engineering. Of the 25 people in her class only four were women. One left fairly smartly and the other was kicked off the course – we didn’t ask for details – but Kanisha and the remaining woman both passed with flying colours and went on to have successful careers on the end of a welding gun.

It would be easy to see Kanisha and her fellow woman tradies as lone warriors fighting to bridge the gender gap, but she assures us that she has had plenty of support along the way from progressive and forward-thinking men, such as Clint Thorburn from BTS Engineering . Clint has been one of Kanisha’s greatest cheerleaders from the get go, as has her manager at Spunlite, who is both gender and colour blind and has overseen Kanisha’s unusually rapid ascent from apprentice welder to manager over the space of six years.

Mechanical engineering is certainly not for everyone, as welding for 50-plus hours a week and hauling steel around requires a certain amount of upper body strength. It’s also noisy and dirty work, and not a suitable job for anyone who like to have clean hair at the end of the day! For those women who might be put off by the physicality of the job however, Kanisha assures us that in the interests of health and safety, employees are not allowed to lift over 25kg and must use machinery to do so.

When asked about the inevitable banter, Kanisha ensures us that she gives as good as she gets, and she reckons the way that women are treated in the trade industries is infinitely better than it used to be. Her advice to women who are looking to get into mechanical engineering is to do some research on the company and find out how much support they have in place. Contrary to the common perception of Baby Boomer men being sexist, Kanisha notes that she has always found the older blokes she works with to be especially helpful. Take note Gen Zs!

Kanisha herself has enjoyed mentoring a couple of female high school and university students who who have taken on casual positions at Spunlite in their holidays, and one of them even enjoyed it so much she has gone on to make a career out of it.

So, if you’re a woman who is looking to get into a trade that pays well, with excellent job security and clear pathways to management, why not have a go at mechanical engineering? Ara in Christchurch offers a number of welding courses and pre trade programmes, and it’s important to remember that good welders come in all shapes or sizes. Gender is completely irrelevant, some blokes like to have clean hair too you know!

Clint Thorburn from BTS Engineering, concerned by a looming shortage of mechanical engineers worldwide, has made it his mission to encourage young people of any gender to get into the industry, so give him a call on 0800 885 383 and find out whether mechanical engineering is the right career for you.