Only a third of workers in the print industry are female according to latest statistics from the industry body – a figure Birmingham business owner Liz Smith wants to see change as she appoints a new female apprentice.
To mark International Women’s Day, the managing director at print, stationery and branded merchandise supplier LG Davis, based in Birmingham, wants to raise awareness of the opportunities for women in the industry as well as encourage more female apprentices.
“As a woman in print I have found myself in the past at business conferences where I am the only woman in the room,” says Liz, who has been working in the industry for nearly 40 years.
According to statistics by the British Printing Industry Federation the UK print industry is made up of 69% men and 31% women with women less likely to have production roles and a huge pay gap between genders.
“A lot has been done more recently to change the gender gap and steps have been made in the right direction but in 2022 women are still very much under represented in senior management and executive roles. If print is to continue to grow and evolve we need to raise awareness of the industry and continue to create more diversity in the workforce.”
The entrepreneur, who has been asked to give her views on how the Government can support small businesses to the Prime Minister at Downing Street briefings in the past few years, wants to change the perception of the traditional industry as she welcomes her first female apprentice.
“A lot has been done in recent years to offer more flexibility in working hours to make roles more accessible and we are starting to see a difference. However, numbers of women in the printing industry are and continue to be low.
“If we are to change that we need to create greater awareness of the opportunities, more flexibility in working patterns and increased innovation in the industry.”
According to Dawn Reid, Regional Director for the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) in the Midlands, “A big problem is perception due to our sector being a male-dominated one, much like most manufacturing. A lot has been done since I started in the industry to offer more flexibility in working hours, more diverse and accessible roles, and we are starting to see a difference. However, we need to continue to ensure we raise the awareness and visibility of women in our industry to break the bias. We need to create greater awareness of the opportunities and innovation in the industry to encourage more young people generally and more women in particular to join.”
LG Davis is very passionate about helping encourage more young people into the industry as a way of generating new opportunities and have also built more flexibility and part-time working into their roles to encourage more variety in applications.
In the last few months the firm, which is celebrating its 60th year, has taken on four new apprentices including Maizie a 19 year old girl from Kings Heath. It is something that Liz would like to see more of as she says a lot of the time they struggle to get any women to even apply for new roles.
“The print sector is a very traditional industry and like many manufacturing industries more needs to be done to specifically target and raise awareness of the benefits to women.
“Having flexible working hours, more part-time roles and greater awareness of how the industry works will all help.
“What we need is a big shakeup in the industry to bring in new innovative young people and a more diverse managerial team.”
Women have their strongest representation in non-production print roles, 37%, compared to 28% of production staff being female. There is also a huge pay gap between genders with men earning a median £13.29 per hour to women’s £11.82, representing a pay gap of 11% compared to the national gap of 8.6%.
This year’s theme for International Women’s Day (IWD) is Beat the Bias. The event held on the 8th March each year celebrates women’s achievements and challenges to focus on gender equality and women’s rights. This year’s Beat the Bias theme calls on individuals to help challenge stereotypes.
International Men’s Day is an annual celebration on November 19th to recognise and celebrate the achievements of men.
Find out more about Liz's experience as a woman in print in LG Davis' latest Q&A style blog at https://www.lgdsolutions.com/single-post/celebrating-international-women-s-day