BIV MAGAZINE
22 | BIV MAGAZINE: THE EDUCATION ISSUE 2020 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
TRADES TALK A Q&A with Industry Training Authority CEO Shelley Gray
HAYLEY WOODIN
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helley Gray was named CEO of the Industry Training Authority (ITA) – the provincial government agency charged with facilitating trades and industry job training in B.C. – in March 2019, after starting out as director of customer experience in 2013 and being promoted to chief operating officer in 2017. Gray spoke with BIV Magazine about the skilled trades shortage, making the ITA a more performance-oriented organization and promoting inclusion in the trades. Q: WHAT HAS DEFINED YOUR FIRST YEAR IN THE ROLE?
A: A lot of my focus is around continuing to pivot the organization to be very performance driven – to ensure that we’re delivering the best trades training and apprenticeship system to the province. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done around inclusion. It’s something that is really close to my heart personally in terms of making sure we’re advancing and sustaining a trades training system that’s inclusive and welcoming for all. Q: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BARRIERS TO GREATER INCLUSION? A: I think in some cases there’s a lot of “You don’t know what you don’t know.” In some cases, there’s an environment that has just existed in one way for a very long time where people don’t necessarily recognize the barriers that do exist. In other cases, there’s just some overt prejudice and behaviours that should not be tolerated in this day and age. You’ve got both sides of things that you’re trying to bring awareness to and help move forward.
Q: HOW FAR HAVE WE COME FROM THE STIGMA THAT SKILLED TRADES AREN’T CAREERS?
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A: We have come a long way; there’s still a long way to go. But I think for many people in B.C., they see the potential in terms of earnings. They see the fact that you can have a career that you can tailor once you get your credential. Once you’ve finished and you’re a journey professional, you can make six figures easily in an electrical career for the rest of your life. That’s a lot more than some post-secondary careers come out and make. I think that the awareness of that is really growing. Q: THAT MAKES ME PICTURE THE STEREOTYPE OF THE PHD STUDENT WORKING AT STARBUCKS. A: Exactly. All education’s a good thing, but I think some people are starting to look at it and say to their own kids the return on investment of some degrees is probably not there in the same way than if you go and pursue a skilled trade. We’re doing a lot more work with institutions to allow people to get some credit toward a business degree. You can go on and own your own business from that. Q: WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS AROUND BECOMING A MORE PERFORMANCE-ORIENTED ORGANIZATION? A: It’s still early days but it’s about making sure everybody who is going into the apprenticeship system is set up for the best chance of success, and every dollar that we’re spending from taxpayers’ money is being best spent to get us the best outcomes. In a labour market that’s at full employment, it’s really key that we’re continuing to innovate and develop
2020-02-05 4:11 PM
