Women in Construction: The Numbers Are Building

March 7-13 is designated as "Women in Construction Week." Although the percentages of women in the building trades is still small, the opportunities are great.

Women in Construction: Concrete and Steel

When the Twin Cities Light Rail Transit starts running later this spring, it will represent a triumph for 39 women-owned contracting and consulting companies that worked on the project. The Metropolitan Council made a point of hiring companies owned by women, according to Jennifer Strand, vice president of the Association of Women Contractors. Women-owned companies have moved water lines, poured concrete, and erected steel on the Hiawatha project.

For the past nine years, WomenVenture has been helping women to explore and obtain highway jobs in nontraditional areas like construction and carpentry. Rita Rodriguez heads the Jobs in the Trades program, a five-week preapprenticeship that begins with one week of work on interviewing, résumé building and learning to job search. After that come four weeks of hands-on training on a building project.

"It's eight hours a day, heat or cold, handling power tools," Rodriguez says. "It gives women a chance to see what the job will be like."

It also gives WomenVenture a chance to get to know the women in each class. This helps in figuring out which jobs and companies will be a good fit for the women.

Attention to Detail

Rodriguez says that women's fine motor skills and attention to detail can be advantages in some building trades:

Tile setting is detailed work, and the more detailed patterns require creativity.

Low-voltage cable installation sometimes benefits from the smaller hands of women installers.

Remodeling projects require creative solutions to making new windows, doors or cabinets look good when the house is no longer level. In addition, Rodriguez says, women on the crew sometimes make points because they clean up after themselves.

One WomenVenture graduate became a window installer. While the men on the crew thought the job was done when the window was in place, "Rebecca would peel off the label, take some window cleaner, and clean the window, and then say, 'Okay, we're done,'" Rodriguez says.

In general, Rodriguez says, the first three months are the test for women starting in the trades. "Some of our people say the men have been like brothers, very supportive. Other men say, 'You're taking some guy's job.'"

Here to Stay

Rodriguez acknowledges it's still a male-dominated field, but the struggle can be worthwhile. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the living wage for a single parent with one child is $13.75 an hour. Yet many "traditional" jobs for women pay $10 an hour or less. After they complete their apprenticeships, women in the trades might make $25 an hour or more.

Although 2003 was a tough year in the building trades, things should start to improve by the middle of 2004, Rodriguez says. WomenVenture is looking to the future with a new program that focuses on job advancement and retention for women in the trades. "These women aren't going away," she concludes.

For information on the WomenVenture program, go to www.WomenVenture.org and click on the "Jobs in the Trades" link.