It took Dianne Fraser 20 years behind a checkout counter to realize she'd rather be working underneath a kitchen sink.

Fraser, who stands five-foot-two, remembers the day she traded in her cash register at B.C. Liquor Stores for a plumber's belt and steel-toed boots.

"I was very nervous because I wasn't sure how this male-dominated industry would react. I thought they'd look at me and say, 'What is she doing here?' " the 42-year-old said.

Only six per cent of all construction workers (trades workers, equipment operators and labourers) in British Columbia are female, according to 2006 figures from B.C. Stats, which is derived from information provided by Statistics Canada. The national average of women in trades is 11.5 per cent, according to StatsCan, which uses a broader definition of "trades" which results in higher numbers -- under that definition, British Columbia has a 10.3 per cent participation rate….

Shelley Neil, president of the Vancouver-based Canadian Construction Women organization, agrees that the number of women entering the construction industry is small, but says the real problem is the high turnover rate.

"A lot of young women are coming into construction from the apprentice stage but we still need more experienced journey persons," she said. "The women that do start in construction drop out after spending some time in the field for a variety of reasons like better opportunities or child care."

The industry is facing such a shortage that gender should no longer be a factor, said Neil.

A report prepared for the Ottawa-based Construction Sector Council, titled Future Labour Supplies for Canada's Construction Industry, identifies women, aboriginals and new immigrants as potential labour pools that need to be tapped to fill the industry's current and future labour requirements.

Quebec has the highest percentage of women in construction trades, at 12 per cent of that sector's work force…

The Council on Learning says young people in general tend to be directed away from careers in skilled trades, but women in particular are discouraged from doing "men's work."