Women who build - by Annie McEvoy of NEREJ

The construction industry has historically been a nontraditional occupation for women.  It wasn’t until the late 19th and 20th Centuries that women began to be recognized in the A/E/C industry. Emily Roebling became chief engineer for the Brooklyn Bridge, opening in 1883; Louise Blanchard Bethune was the first American woman who was acknowledged to have worked as a professional architect and Lillian Gilbreth was accepted to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1926.

Over the years women have experienced issues relating to available opportunities, job satisfaction, equal compensation and acceptance as professionals.

In the late 1970s, equal opportunity and affirmative action laws formally opened the doors for women in the trades. Despite the barriers for success, women have continued to work in construction, although they are still less than 3% of the national construction workforce. Some are seeking economic security of high-paying union jobs and some are drawn by the love of the trade. Engineer Barbara Res said it perfectly, “You can be a girly girl and still be hauling pipe. You are a person first; and then a woman, and then you’re a laborer”

The first documentary film about women in the construction trades will premier in 2017, “Hard Hatted Women.” Ironworkers, electricians, plumbers, pile drivers, and masons, all know what it is like to be the only woman on the job. 

The annual Women Who Build Summit will be held on Feb. 22 in Hartford, Conn., hosted by the Construction Institute.

Female executives, professionals and trade women have become a recognized force in the industry. They are empowering themselves and others to propel needed change.

Annie McEvoy is associate publisher at NEREJ, Norwell, Mass.