Recently, Barbara A. Res penned an insightful column for the Baltimore Sun examining why there are so few women in the construction industry and detailed why and how this should be changed.
As contractors across the U.S. continue battling a skilled worker shortage that is impacting completion dates and ability to meet rising demand, it’s a good idea for these companies to hear Res out. The industry is in no state to be picky and it’s missing out on a lot of great if it continues to operate without a focus of recruiting more women.
Res is an engineer, construction industry executive and layer with 30 years of experience in the industry. She is the author of the memoir All Alone on the 68th Floor: How One Woman Changed the Face of Construction.
In the column, Res cites Bureau of Labor Statistics data that says women make up 9 percent of the construction industry’s workforce in the U.S., most of them either executives or in clerical and secretarial positions. Only 6 percent of the construction workforce is made up of female construction managers and less than 3 percent are on-site laborers.
As to why there are so few women in construction, Res shrugs off the cultural perception that construction work is only for men due to the notion that the work demands brute strength. “Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and union rules along with new building technology has made the requirement for strength inapplicable to most trades,” Res writes.
Res argues that the real reason more women haven’t pursued careers in the industry is a lack of protection.
“In construction, harassment, discrimination and intimidation are still deterrents to women entering the business,” she writes. “…A general bias against women working with tools still exists. Many men in the trades oppose women working and do what they can to discourage them. So much so that even women who enter the field often drop out due to the failure of society to accept them in their roles and the pervasive harassment and stereotyping that remains in the business.”
