International Women’s Day: Northland women lead in male-dominated jobs

Jasmine Cosson was a barista before an apprenticeship as an auto mechanic sparked her interest. Photo / Jenny Ling

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day on March 8 is Accelerate Action - advancing and celebrating women’s equality worldwide. According to the World Economic Forum, it will take until 2158 to achieve full gender parity at the current rate of progress. Reporter Jenny Ling talks to three inspiring Northland women making it in male-dominated fields.

Auto-electrician apprentice Jasmine Cosson

Jasmine Cosson was working as a barista at Kerikeri’s busy drive-through coffee kiosk Way Cup when she heard of a unique job opportunity.

The owner of Waipapa Auto-Electrical, Roger Baine, got his coffee there, and a friend of a friend mentioned he was hiring.

“I thought why not give it a try?” Cosson said.

“I didn’t want to make coffee anymore; I wanted to do something different.

“I came in for a trial and fell in love with it.”

Cosson, who had been working in cafes since she was 15, started her four-year auto electrician apprenticeship with industry training organisation Mito in January 2024.

She had little previous interest or experience working on cars, apart from occasional four-wheel driving with friends.

“My mates would work on their four-wheel drives, and I’d jump in and help now and then.

“But I never thought I’d be working on vehicles.”

Cosson, 18, is now immersed in the world of starter motors, batteries, alternators, and ECUs - and she loves it.

“The work is great,” she said.

“At first it was hard not being able to do everything the guys can do.

“I had to ask Roger multiple times to loosen bolts on cars because I couldn’t get them undone.

“But it gets easier and now it’s just like normal.”

The only other difference Cosson has noticed about her job that relates to her gender is the occasional customer who “doesn’t want to talk to a girl”.

“There’s not many, but sometimes they’d prefer to talk straight to my workmate.”

Overall, Cosson said the workshop on Maritime Lane is a great place to work.

“Everyone is different, but I like being hands-on and pulling things apart and putting them back together.

“In here you’ve always got something different to do.”

Traffic signals engineer Jacqui Hori-Hoult

NZTA’s Jacqui Hori-Hoult encouraged women to back themselves when stepping into male dominated jobs.

After 25-odd years as a qualified traffic signals engineer in roading management and operations, NZTA’s Jacqui Hori-Hoult knows a thing or two about working in a male-dominated industry.

Hori-Hoult “fell into the job” while working in administration for the Traffic Control Systems Unit in London in the 1990s.

“My boss recognised I had more potential than just admin,” she said.

“He said if you do this training we’ll pay, and you can be a traffic signals engineer - and I did.”

Hori-Hoult returned to New Zealand 20 years ago, settling in Whangārei.

She has been in her current role as regional manager maintenance and operations Auckland and Northland at NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi for nearly four years.

She has also held previous senior management roles at the government roading agency totalling 13 years.

While most engineers are male, there are more senior women working in the field in the United Kingdom than in New Zealand, she said.

Being Māori and female in her line of work is still seen as “unique”, she said.

“I’ve learned techniques around how to make sure I add value, and that I’m heard in an environment where it’s mainly males.

“As a woman, you add value because you do have a different lens, we do think differently to men ... building trust and asking really good questions is important.

“It’s a leadership thing as well. I’m very comfortable in my own skin now.”

Hori-Hoult said she loves her job which is aligned to her values and involves getting the best for Northland communities and helping others grow.

However, New Zealand still has a way to go to reach gender equality and she encouraged other women to step up.

“Be brave because you need to have a voice, and you need to make sure you’re being heard.

“Step into it ... don’t undersell yourself, back yourself when you’re in those rooms.”

Hori-Hoult said there was nothing stopping women from stepping into a male-dominated industry.

“Compared to when I started 20 years ago, the amount of women I see coming through now is fantastic.”

Naut chief executive Fiona Bycroft

Naut chief executive Fiona Bycroft’s entire career has been working in male-dominated environments.

Fiona Bycroft’s entire career has been working in male-dominated environments.

So much so that, five years ago at a female-focused event, the seasoned chief executive was surprised to learn she had experienced subtle biases due to her gender.

“One woman said she’d been asked to take notes and make coffee. I thought ‘I’ve had that’.

“Another said ‘it’s assumed I’m the administrator rather than the CEO’, and I thought ‘I’ve had that’.

“It was quite a shock to me that I didn’t even recognise the biases that existed even though I operate in that world.

“Those biases are a barrier to more women coming into male-dominated industries.”

After school, where she excelled at maths and sciences, Bycroft gained a degree in chemical and materials engineering at the University of Auckland.

At age 25, she was appointed maintenance manager at Siemen’s and she went on to hold management positions with the likes of Carter Holt Harvey, Kinleith, and the Glenbrook Steelmill.

Her CV sports an impressive list of management roles at large New Zealand and international companies including in Melbourne and China.

She is chief executive of Naut, a Northland-based company that specialises in electric propulsion systems for boats, which she also co-founded four years ago.

Now aged 47, Bycroft is an advocate for women in leadership and is a key speaker at women’s events.

Generally, there isn’t gender parity across New Zealand’s workforce, she said.

“If we look at tradespeople in particular in Whangārei we don’t have enough women being electricians or mechanics.

“In Auckland, there are some companies doing much better.”

Bycroft said men need to recognise women can do these roles and be willing to take them on.

“I was fortunate that I worked with men that recognised that diversity adds value.

“I was commonly told by various managers that I was a breath of fresh air.

“I took that as bringing a different perspective to the way they were thinking of things.

“You get a much better outcome at the end.”

Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with roading, lifestyle, business, and animal welfare issues.