Shifting Stereotypes by Launching a Gender Balanced Recruiting Campaign
Musket Transport is making strides to change gender stereotypes by adopting a gender balanced recruiting strategy for new employees.
The transport industry has long been seen as a male-dominated industry with women being underrepresented across the board. Females make up only 3.5% of all truck drivers in Canada, compared to 16% in trucking and logistics, and 48% across all related industries. This is largely due to gender stereotypes and stigma, but Musket is working hard to balance those statistics in the right direction.
"At Musket and CHET we are very passionate about pursuing a gender balanced recruitment strategy in addition to attracting other underrepresented groups in the industry" states Sophia Sniegowski Begidzhanov, Corporate Communications Officer for Musket. "Over the last few years we have prioritized a female focused campaign that included students, drivers, and support staff in our company."
This year is no exception. Musket's current recruiting campaign is specially designed to engage and recruit new employees regardless of gender.
Begidzhanov went on to say that, "It's important to have more women in all areas of transportation and logistics. Thanks to a lot of the work done by groups like Trucking HR Canada, the Women's Trucking Federation of Canada (WTFC), and UN Women we have been able to identify areas of improvement and roll them into our recruitment initiatives."
The creation of an inclusive, gender-equal workplace is a top priority for Musket Transport and they continue a strong track record of employing women at all levels of the company. In order to back up this charge for change, Musket recently launched their Annual Female AZ Driver Scholarship program, in partnership with Commercial Heavy Equipment Training Ltd. (CHET). The scholarship covers the cost of an A/Z training program for a woman who's interested in commercial driving as a career.
"In 2020, UN Women recognized our gender balanced recruitment strategy in a case study," said Begidzhanov. "Last year we became one of the few carriers to launch an annual AZ scholarship fund for females in partnership with CHET. We believe that this scholarship and sharing the successful stories of our female commercial drivers will encourage more women to get behind the wheel."
The results of the campaign are obvious. CHET recently published an article providing profiles of their female drivers and their experience working for Musket and how they're leading the charge in changing gender norms in the transport sector.
"I have been driving for Musket Transport for five and a half years now and counting," said professional transport driver, Keashia Williams. "I am the second female B-train driver (super B-train) at the company. I am so happy and proud to represent Musket Transport on the road. Musket is a very good place to work and grow."
Learn more about Musket's gender balanced recruiting strategy.