A recent study by the National Women’s Law Center called Women In Construction: Still Breaking Ground examines the current state of women in construction and finds that the industry is sorely lacking in programs to bring women into the industry and that women continue to suffer harassment and bullying on the jobsite.
The study, underwritten by the Ford Foundation, Morningstar Foundation, New Morning Foundation and the Irene B. Wolt Lifetime Trust, states that, “The share of women in construction has remained shockingly low – under 3 percent – for decades due in large part to the discrimination that blocks women from entering and staying in the field.”
This is interesting in that the study compares construction to other fields and finds that women’s roles in the other professions have grown to levels of 50% – far outstripping the approximately 3% of women in our industry. Currently, the report states that, “There are about 7,615,000 male construction workers in the U.S. and only about 206,000 women.”
The study shares personal stories of women who are in the industry or were in the industry but left due to the conditions that they were subjected to on a daily basis. The conclusion states that Federal, State, and local officials must work with the construction industry to develop programs that make it possible for women to help fill some of the 1.6 million construction jobs that will be needed over the next 8 years.
Maybe we need to recommend that leaders in our industry watch videos of “Rosie the Riveter” at work during the 1940s.
Thanks also to Andrew Heaton a contributor to Sourceable.net for his coverage of this study. You can download the report from the National Women’s Law Center website.
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