Australia needs more skilled female workers as they represent just 14% of the workforce in the technical and trade world, it is claimed. The country has too much of an entrenched division between male and female dominated industries and this is perpetuating gender inequality in the Australian workforce which must be tackled, according to the [...]

Click to read the full news article: Australia does not have enough women working in skilled technical and trade jobs...
Please come back to discuss the story here in this thread.

Sounds like something that is connected to the cost of childcare... Many women put their careers on hold due to ridiculous prices for childcare services. For example, in Sydney 1 day at child care center in Sutherland Shire is around $80. For the same service in CBD it may be as much as $150 per day (my neighbour pays that rate). It just does not pay off to go to work and pay for childcare as wages are often not even close to covering these costs... Not to mention limited working hours due to limited operating hours of child care centers. Technical jobs usually require full time people whereas mothers of younger children cannot afford it from availability perspective.