A Word From AGCVA Chair, Arlene Lee

Women in Construction

As we close out Women in Construction Month, I want to take a moment to appreciate all the women in the industry and bring light to the roles we play and how they are rapidly changing.

The most recent numbers, as of 2022, from the Bureau of Labor and Statistic show that 1.3 million women work in the construction industry and account for just 1.25% of the total workforce. This translates to 10.9% of construction workers. Virginia is even higher and ranks 13th in the nation with 12.5% of construction workers being female. This is a significant increase over the last decade. Reports vary but may be as high as a 53% increase. The percentages include women who work in engineering, architecture, legal, insurance, and administrative, but when we look at those who work in the trades, it’s just 4%.

While the number of women in construction has been rising steadily over the last few years, there are barriers that must be considered for continued growth. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 41% of women in construction experienced harassment of some sort over the past year. This included sexual harassment, toxic work environments, marginalization, and being passed over for promotions. In another report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, “26.5% of the almost 200 respondents reported experiencing high levels of harassment on the job due to their gender. 47.7% felt treated differently than their male co-workers and worked in an unsupportive environment.”

As an industry, we will need to do better and can do better. Women are part of the answer to the ongoing workforce shortage in construction.

Supporting female employees starts before they are hired, in their interview, with the types of questions they are asked and the unintentional biases they face. Sometimes it’s the questions in the interviewer’s head that are the most damaging. “Can she physically do the work?” “How much can she lift?” “What if she’s pregnant or nursing?” “Will she have to be on light duty for long periods of time?” “Does she have adequate childcare?”

These questions reflect an inherent bias in our culture. Nowadays, not everyone wants children, and many fathers are the primary caregivers. These questions do not reflect whether or not someone is qualified. Studies have show men tend to be hired on potential and women on accomplishments. This subconscious bias has a big impact on hiring, especially when it comes to promotions and how high a woman makes it in an organization. Today, 9.2% of management-level employees in construction are women, and just half of 1% are CEOs. Concerted efforts are being made to bring more young women into the industry, and it starts with creating opportunities from a young age. Will we be ready for them?

Programs through schools and scouting are opening a whole world of possibilities that didn’t exist for most girls just 15 or 20 years ago. Even the toy industry took note and stepped into a whole new market of construction and building toys for girls. Just in the last decade, engineering schools have gone from 20% women to over 50%.

We are living through changing times. As these young women graduate and enter the construction industry, there are a few simple things all companies can do to support them: provide full access to training and mentoring opportunities, flexible hours — if possible —provide proper fitting PPE made for women, provide the right tools for the job and sized to the worker, clean and separate restrooms on-site, provide leadership opportunities, listen, provide clean lactation rooms, be respectful, and provide opportunities to speak. Last but not least, the workplace is no place to be called a girl, we are Women in Construction. How will your company change? What will you do?