2nd June 2026 Hands-on work experience is key to connecting young women to the wide variety of career opportunities that exist in traditionally male-dominated infrastructure trades, according to one of the industry’s leading training providers. Kicking off this week Girls with Hi-Vis® (GWHV) is an annual month-long series of events developed by Connexis, infrastructure training provider for the civil construction, energy, telecommunications and water industries. Throughout June every year …
What was meant to be a temporary job has turned into a fulfilling career path for Kaitlyn Newsome. Kaitlyn’s civil construction career began when she was working for a labour hire company supplying staff to HEB Construction. She decided she’d like to give the trade a go herself. Kaitlyn, who has also worked as a prison officer, has been with …
Hands-on, skills-based training at New Zealand’s leading infrastructure work sites has been key to sparking interest in infrastructure trade and technical careers among young women. More than 500 secondary school students from around the country have attended almost 30 Connexis Girls with Hi-Vis® (GWHV) events hosted by key industry employers who have given female students the opportunity to try their …
Attending a Connexis Girls with Hi-Vis® (GWHV) event in 2022 opened Natalee Hughes’s eyes to a new world of career possibilities. After attending a GWHV hosted by Horizon Networks in Whakatane, Natalee completed a Gateway programme with Horizon while she was still a student at Trident High School. It just cemented the idea that a career as a line mechanic …
Inviting women to choose a career in infrastructure could be the key to success for New Zealand’s pipeline of infrastructure projects, says the sector’s leading training provider. Connexis, training provider for infrastructure industries such as civil, energy, telecommunications and water, hosts Girls with Hi-Vis® (GWHV) events around the country each June with the goal of attracting more women into careers …
A visit to a Girls With Hi-Vis event in 2023 opened up a whole new world for then 16-year-old Sofie McCormick. Sofie attended a Canterbury GWHV event hosted by infrastructure services company Ventia while still a student at local Ellesmere College. With her interest piqued in an infrastructure trade career, Sofie then landed an introduction to a possible apprenticeship with …
Hundreds of female secondary school students from throughout the country have just had a taste of a career in infrastructure – and they’ve loved it.
Attending a Girls with Hi-Vis event in 2022 set Brodie Henry on her career path. Since January Brodie has been with Downer Gisborne full-time, working on the crusher at Waerenga-o-kauri Quarry breaking down material into gravel that will be used on work sites around the region, including those damaged in Cyclone Gabrielle.
Boosting our visibility, and helping young women recognise the opportunities the infrastructure industry can offer them, will come down to showing as well as telling.
This month’s series of Girls with Hi-Vis® (GWHV) events aims to attract young women to the industry and will see close to 800 students from 80 schools – including 35 schools involved for the first time – experiencing what the infrastructure industry has to offer as a career.
