Learn more about Monica's pathway to becoming a Lecturer in Electrical Trades.
Video transcript
[Video shows an aerial view of Manukau city in Auckland]
Before I even started school, I used to get into trouble.
And what it was was that I would take my father's tools and then take, like, radios and appliances and things, and I would try to dismantle them.
[Video shows Monica sitting in a workshop and speaking]
So that was from an early age. So I used to get into trouble from a very early age for dismantling things and then trying to put them back together again.
So I always had that urge to see what was inside of something and know how it works. So that was really important to me.
[Music plays]
So my name is Monica Kershaw. I'm a registered electrician. I was born in raised in Auckland. My parents were immigrants. They came to New Zealand in 197 and we originally lived in Grey Lynn.
It was a traumatic time for my mother especially, being Fijian and coming from the islands and then into New Zealand, especially right when things like the Dawn Raids were just taking off.
And so she still suffers that trauma, you know, that trauma over 40 years on.
[Video shows people in a workshop using tools]
From a Pacific perspective, we're actually good at listening and observing because that's where our oral history has come from. And our traditions and our dance has come from.
So we know how to do those things. So as an apprentice, I could watch and observe and listen and take on board what was being taught to me.
Contrary to what people think about women going into male-dominated areas, I really enjoyed my time at the steel mill. Both as an apprentice and as a tradesperson.
The work was challenging, but I always had amazing support from the other tradespeople around me.
[Video shows Monica helping other tradespeople in the workshop]
So as a woman, I never felt inferior or was treated any differently.
You do need the math skills because if you're going to go into the trades, you need to be able to price up jobs, you know, price up material. You need to be able to measure. So you do need those mathematics skills to do that sort of stuff.
[Video shows Monica sitting in a workshop and speaking]
The other thing is English as well. You need to have really good communication skills with your clients with other tradespeople.
So construction sites are very busy sites, and so you've got to have really good communication to ensure that the work is done on time and the project is on schedule.
So those would be the two biggest subjects I would go for again.
[Monica introduces herself in Fijian]
My family comes from the island of Batiki, the village of Mua in the [Fijian] group of Fiji. I went to Marists’ Sisters College, I live in Auckland, I'm a registered electrician. I am a board member of the Electrical Workers Registration Board
And this is how I became a senior lecturer in electrical trades at Manukau Institute of Technology.