By / Jessica Kirby
Editor, Sheet Metal Journal – Western Washington
Let’s talk about women in construction. Back in March, women came together across the construciton industry to acknowledge and celebrate Women in Construction Week, a series of events meant to embrace and inspire recruitment efforts that bring women into the industry. Of the 10 million Americans employed in construction, only 9% of them are female, and this figure primarily represents women in administrative and office positions in construction. The percentage of women actively working on construction sites is much smaller. Beyond that, women in leadership roles in construction are also low. Among Engineering New Record’s Top 100 contracting firms and Fortune 500 construction companies, 44% of these have women in executive roles, such as vice president and director, but only 16% have women in C-level roles like chief financial officer and chief marketing officer. Furthermore, only 3% of companies have a female construction manager.
WIC Week is a great opportunity to highlight the reasons women ought to consider careers in construction and to unpack the reasons they don’t—gender-bias, sexual harassment, and social perceptions are just a few, but lack of mentorship is also an important contributing factor. It is a known fact that individuals of any gender, ethnicity, or personal identity are far less likely to participate in organized groups that do not already have participants with whom they can visibly identify.
Despite the challenges, there are so many reasons for women to consider construction as a career choice. Leadership opportunities abound, and studies show having a woman at the table improves team performance and conflict resolution skills, and brings fresh perspectives to the business. Women who work in trades earn an average 30% more than women who work in traditionally female-dominated careers while helping to address the labor shortage, which is expected to climb to a staggering 1.6-million-person need over the next five years.
Most importantly, women who join the construction industry are actively changing company standards in a positive way. They are bridging conflict gaps, advocating for equality where it doesn’t exist, and breaking through barriers to pave the way for the women who come after them. This is an essential pivot point because it means the next generations will come to the field understanding construction is for the hard-working, technically-minded, productive, and inspired—not just “for the boys”.
It has been reported on numerous occasions in these pages and others, that the best feeling in the world is being able to look out the window or drive through town and point to the structures that make up the city’s signature and landscape, knowing these are buildings you helped construct from the ground up. Working in construction creates this passion for building and feeling of having contributed in an important relevant way to one’s community. Shouldn’t this feeling be open to everyone?
SMACNA-Western Washington and its membership participated in a number of events that brought the construction industry together for WIC Week. These events were both for the participants and to demonstrate the need for greater engagement in recruitment efforts. See page 10 for a run down of WIC Week and to get inspired to participate in next year’s events.
Creating momentum for recruitment efforts that bring women into construction is a joint initiative from SMACNA and SMART that aims to double the number of women in the industry by 2025. This effort has been supported by various women’s groups in contruction but also by men in the industry, which is essential, and together the lofty recruitment goal can become the reality.
In this issue’s article on the subject, which begins on page 15, Angie Simon, president of Western Allied Mechanical in California and SMACNA national president, recalls a key moment in a recent speaking engagement when the need for mentorship was illustrated:
“Recently, I was on a panel for women in construction and we all mentioned that we never intended to get into the position we are in,” she says. “I mean, I never desired to be the president of my company. At the end, during the Q&A, this young lady from the audience said that she didn’t understand why I didn’t want to be the president of my company and explained, ‘I see you guys and that’s what I want to be.’ You have to see it to want to be it. I think the challenge for us back when I got into the industry was that we didn’t think it was a possibility because there were no women in those positions.”
Be sure to check out the project story that begins on page 16. Johansen Mechanical innovated to solve an important problem at the Tulalip Gathering Hall project in Tulalip, WA. Because of its expertise and ability to innovate, the team was able to mock up, pitch, and fabricate custom grilles that saved the client time and money and proved the company’s ability to adapt as the project requires. ▪
