What you're asking about is probably the long-standing issue of perception vis-à-vis the skilled trades. As I said, there are multiple factors. Sometimes youth perceive these, and I think erroneously, as being risky jobs and demanding jobs physically. It certainly would explain why so few women are entering the skilled trades. Sometimes not promoting a lot of career advancement, or not leading to other connected employment can play against them. They can also see the hurdles and the challenges of completing an apprenticeship program, the fact that it's a demand of an industry, that maybe job stability is highly dependent on the state of the economy. There's a multiplicity of factors that can explain this.
There's also culture and history in terms of looking at people working in the skilled trades. It's a challenging environment, and certainly in that context some, what I would say, impressions have been left on the parents. But the economy has evolved tremendously. Technology has evolved tremendously. It was certainly evident at the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum conference, where I met some crane operators and all sorts of individuals who are working with very advanced technology. It's not what it used to be. There's a question of evolution, of communicating that evolution, and sensitizing youth to that reality.
I'm as intrigued as you are about the fact that people start their program, on average, at 25 years of age. It tells me that when they leave high school, in between the time they actually graduate from high school and the time they enter a trade, there is a definite period in which there is a certain reflection that occurs. Maybe some individuals don't necessarily like to pursue studies and they want to explore the opportunities in the labour market. They find out that it's a demanding environment. Maybe with some recognition of their credentials or experience that they've acquired—maybe they worked in construction—by familiarizing themselves with the labour market, they discover that with some certification they can perfect their skills. It is like some of us around this table who work in the administration field who decide to get an MBA later on in our careers to perfect our skills. It can be the same kind of process.
There's a variety of factors that can explain this.