Championing women in trades from under the bonnet

Starting out as an apprentice mechanic more than 40 years ago, Kerrie Thomson-Booth was the only female in Taranaki learning how to fix cars. On her first day of a block course, the surprised tutor pointed her down the corridor, saying ‘nursing’s that way’.

We may be in the Fourth Wave of feminism in 2025, but it still surprises her when young women tell her their families don’t want them to learn a trade.

She’s about to relinquish her role as Deputy Director of Trades Training at WITT but will remain a champion of getting women into trades.

Kerrie says there’s a distinct lack of awareness of the opportunities.

“Young women don’t realise even in 2025 that trades is an option for them. It’s not discussed around the dining room table.”

And that’s not just ‘girl power’ idealism. At the Women in Trades event earlier this year (which WITT sponsors and supports) – local trades and construction business owners echoed the same sentiment.

One contractor running an interactive workshop at the expo (attended by 400+ teenaged girls from all over Taranaki) said 25 years in the construction sector taught him that women are highly competent and sought after as heavy machine operators. That’s because they look after the equipment better, operate it more gently and are mindful of taking care of what’s going on at a building site to avoid collisions or damage to other structures. All this can save a business mega-bucks in the cost of repairing, replacing and maintaining machinery.

Breaking the mold

Kerrie, who got her first job interview because the employer assumed ‘Kerrie’ was a guy, wanted to be a mechanic from an early age.

The youngest of seven, she grew up on a farm on the outskirts of New Plymouth. A highlight was hanging out with her oldest brother Rob, tinkering with car parts and engines. Rob became a mechanic too.

Is there something in the genes? Her mum Joan - who died when Kerrie was 17, a few days after Kerrie got accepted for her mechanic apprenticeship - loved cars too. She might have been a mechanic if she’d lived in a different era, Kerrie reckons. She gained a mechanical skills certificate in the 1940s, which was unusual at the time.

Her maternal grandfather was also a mechanic, while her father “knew all about horses but definitely not about horsepower!”

An orphan at 17 (her dad had passed away when she was 14), she focused on her unconventional dream which both her parents had encouraged.

She was the only female mechanical apprentice in Taranaki for the entire three years of her apprentice, which she began in 1982.

“I got told that the motor industry was no place for a female. That didn’t deter me because I knew when I was eight it was what I wanted to do.”

In her apprenticeship she figured out her tutor didn’t think she should be there, telling her she’d do the course then get married and pregnant. “Those comments only made me more determined to be the best I could.”

Caption: At Women in Trades 2025, with Katrina Mayo.

A woman’s place…

Sexist attitudes were the norm. Her first boss Donald Burgess had spoken to a prominent businessman who said a mechanical workshop was ‘no place for a woman’. That comment made Don, who had a different view, determined to hire Kerrie.

After all, she’d come top in Taranaki in her first and second qualifying exams, and second-equal in her trades certificate. She might have been content with a 50 per cent pass rate at school. “I didn’t see the relevance.” However, being an apprentice fuelled her passion. “I didn't want to just be good; I wanted to be the best.”

After working as a motor mechanic for big luxury brands in Australia – Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen - for a number of years, she and her family returned to Taranaki. They bought Fitzroy Automotive in 2004 from Don, the owner who first employed her. She credits him for never treating her differently because she was female and teaching her so much.

In 2017 she started as a tutor at WITT and then did a stint as an assessor for MITO (Motor Industry Training Organisation) which deals with education and qualifications for the sector.  “I realised that my real passion is teaching and imparting my knowledge to others in an industry that has given me an amazing journey.”

Back at WITT she’s been proud to see more wahine entering trades through the Secondary Tertiary Pathway scheme, which offers around 400 Taranaki high students each year the chance to sample a career in a range of the trades and jobs.

She also led WITT’s partnership with Ara Ake in running the EVolocity regional event for several years.  WITT’s role in the nationwide programme for Year 7 to 13 students was to provide mentoring and workshop space so they could design and build two-to-four-wheeled electric vehicles then race them.

The Kaupapa of the programme is to develop the next generation of engineers, technology innovators and entrepreneurs to accelerate New Zealand’s transition to electric vehicles and clean transportation and a more sustainable future.

Caption: Kerrie at the EVolocity regional finals near Waitara last year.

‘She really is a mechanic’

Even today, she’s had to prove to male students she is the real deal through demonstrating her skills under the bonnet. Some were taken aback at having a woman tutor.

Kerrie recalls the challenges of starting to teach halfway through the year, getting to know the students and overcoming the gender bias.

“I was checking in on a Tuesday class, and they had a tyre stuck on a rim. I asked the tutor for a mallet – no fancy equipment - and beat the shit out of it. It popped back on. I just did what I needed to do, handed back the mallet and walked off, and as I did, I heard a student say; ‘she really is a mechanic!’”

Kerrie will soon move on from her role at WITT. She and mechanic husband Warwick have just sold their Fitzroy Automotive business. Next steps for Kerrie will no doubt involve cars in some shape or form.

“I always have a plan - usually involving a new project, a bit of mischief, or an adventure (sometimes all three)!”

She’ll be taking “a wee breather first” before starting contract work connected to the industries she loves.

“And because I can’t sit still for long, I’m also diving into a new little venture with the slogan; ‘We’ve Got You Covered.’ Watch this space!”

“In between all that, my 1971 MG Roadster has been giving me the side-eye from the garage - she’s long overdue for a blast on a sunny day. Top down, wind in the hair, big grin - as it should be.”