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Listen to the Boss Ladies: More women must work with their hands!

Ben Hamilton
September 10th, 2018


This article is more than 6 years old.

Industries will lack 17,000 skilled workers in just ten years’ time

Women have demonstrated they can do the ‘men’s jobs’ time and time again (photo: Imperial War Museum London)

More women should work with their hands, according to the Boss Ladies organisation, which would like to see more girls leave public school at the age of 16 to take vocational courses.

At present, the courses and subsequent jobs are dominated by men, but it is estimated they will lack 17,000 skilled workers in just ten years’ time.

Boss Ladies intends to better educate school children regarding the possibilities, as well as improving working conditions for women in areas like construction and encouraging more workplaces to recruit them.

Initially, it will focus its efforts in Zealand, before rolling out the initiative nationwide.

Funding in place
Boss Ladies is the brainchild of the non-profit organisation Divers, which has received 10 million kroner in funding from Nordea-fonden, Grundejernes Investeringsfond and Uddannelsesfond up until July 2021.

Additional support has been received from Dansk Byggeri, 3F, Dansk El-forbund, TEKNIQ Installationsbranchen, Blik og Rør, Danske Malermestre and KL.

“We must break down some of the outdated prejudices and stereotypes we have about these workers always being men,” Nina Groes, the founder and chair of Divers, told DR.

“There is huge untapped potential, and we know the industry is crying out for labour. If we can make a break with the gender-divided educational options here, then we have a model that can act as an inspiration to other industries.”


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”