Women may have made huge strides in the workplace, but they are still being pushed into traditional girls' jobs rather than industries such as construction, according to a new report. Women's Editor Lindsay Jennings reports.

IT WAS one of those moments of sudden realisation. Kath Kimminau had built up a steady career working as a pharmacist for 20 years. Desperate for a career change and knowing she wanted to work with her hands, Kath, of Darlington, had taken a couple of practical evening classes in woodwork and bricklaying.

But it was only when she took a class in plumbing that she knew she had found her true vocation.

"It was like a lightning strike moment," recalls Kath, 39. "I'd always enjoyed doing physics and chemistry at school and I suddenly thought, 'this is what plumbing is all about, physics and chemistry. This is what I want to do'."

Kath signed up for an NVQ in plumbing and attends Darlington College of Technology two days a week. But according to a study by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), though there may be more opportunities for women in industries such as plumbing and construction, they are not being encouraged to take them up. Eighty per cent of the girls who responded said they would be interested in learning how to do a non-traditional job, and yet only one per cent of construction workers are female.

Anne Madden, project director of the EOC study, says: "The careers education system and work experience opportunities are channelling young people into traditional routes and not opening up wider choices that could have great benefits for them.

''Young women going into work through higher education have broken through the barriers. They now form the majority in entrance figures to careers like law, medicine and accountancy. But segregation is very overt in youngsters starting work through apprenticeships or direct from school.''

Last year, only 22 women in England took up plumbing apprenticeships, compared with more than 3,000 men. But with the skills shortage growing, the need for talented men and women is intensifying.

Says Anne: ''Industries like construction are crying out to get women into the sector. It's not that these jobs are closed to women, they are all open, but we feel the system just isn't supporting non-traditional choices.''

Emma Little, 19, of Richmond, found her vocation as a trainee quantity surveyor after she tried work experience at her dad's work, a property company. She was unsure of what career to pursue until she worked alongside a quantity surveyor.

"I really enjoyed doing it," says Emma, who at the time was at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College in Darlington studying AS Levels. "I rang around and got myself work with a small construction company in Northallerton.

"But the most difficult thing was that a lot of companies either wanted people who had been to university or had just left school. When I had gone to careers interviews, no-one ever mentioned working in the construction industry and if it hadn't been for my dad working in that area, it might never have happened."

Emma now works at MMP Group, Finishings Division, at Newton Aycliffe, and has worked at sites across the region for more than two years, dealing with wages, checking measurements and the costings of the job. Quantity surveyors tend not to be the most popular members of the team on site, with their eyes on the costings, but it is a job that Emma loves.

"When I first walk on site I always get laughed at because I'm really small and have blonde hair, and everyone looks at you as if to say you shouldn't be on site," she laughs. "But I think once you've been here and there and people get used to you and you have gained people's respect, it's fine. There are a few who stand there and will pass the odd comment, but it's fine. It hasn't bothered me and at the end of the day you're there to do a job."

As if to prove the point, there is a bit of light-hearted banter going on in the background to our telephone conversation. "What do you think of women working in the construction industry?" she says to one amid the laughter. "Terrific," he replies. "Some of the women I work with are better than the men."

Out of a total of 28, there are three women in Emma's class at Darlington College, which seems to buck the one per cent outlined in the EOC report. She finishes her National Certificate in Construction in June but will have to study for another five years at university before she qualifies, although she will be sponsored by her company.

"Nobody ever mentioned working in the construction industry when I was at school," she says. "I wish somebody had, because then I wouldn't be at the age I am now and still at college with everyone younger than me. But then I think careers advice today is all about going on to do A Levels and university, for both men and women, and less about doing a trade, which is probably why there's such a national skills shortage."

Kath was attracted to plumbing because of the money and because she loves the practical side to the job. But it is a job she could have been doing for the past 20 years, had she had the encouragement at school. "I get instant gratification fixing things and I find the practical side so much more interesting," she says. "But because I was a girl I didn't think of it as an option as a career when I started out. You get conditioned into certain types of jobs.

"I want to go self-employed when I've qualified. I'll be reliable, which puts you streets ahead of some, and I'll probably work less hours to get the same money. But for me, it's really about job satisfaction."