By Jessica Kirby, Editor
Women in Construction Week, observed March 5-11, 2023, is an annual celebration of women in construction, highlighting their roles, achievements, and contributions to the industry. The National Association of Women in Construction, or NAWIC, held the first WIC Week™ in 1998 to create a support network for women in the construction industry, and since then, the momentum has grown.
Industry associations—like SMACNA—host events, presentations, jobsite tours, lunch and learns, and virtual events to bring awareness to women’s role in construction, the topics that interest them, and the barriers they face.
In 2023, the WIC Week theme, Many Paths, One Mission, highlights many journeys women have taken to reach the same goal, which is personal success and collective strength through highly skilled, well paying jobs and a successful future for all.
Companies and organizations that work directly and indirectly with the construction industry participate in WIC Week in many ways. Demonstrating support for female employees creates a brighter, more lucrative future for everyone, and slowly picks away at barriers to equity.
How to Celebrate
1. Get educated. The percentage of women who work in construction has grown from 2% to 10.5% in America over the past two decades. The growth is slow but steady, yet of that 10.5%, only 2.5% work on the tools. The first step to meaningful education is understanding that we don’t all start from even ground. Once we understand the barriers, we can start to move forward on solutions. Explore more ways to make apprenticeships a viable option for women by connecting with your JATC and Local for partnership opportunities.
2. Encourage women to take construction opportunities. If your company or organization isn’t actively pursuing a company culture that welcomes, fosters, and amplifies diversity, in which women have equal access to promotions and growth opportunities, you are missing out on retention success, and you are selling your employees short. Check out SMACNA National’s BE4ALL resources to find out where to begin.
3. Join, support, or create an association or committee for women in construction. Real change starts at the top. Connect with NAWIC or the women’s association at your chapter or Local or start an association of your own or in partnership with your Local. Lack of mentorship is the second most prevalent reason women leave or fail to enter the construction industry (the first is real or fear of abuse). It’s up to all of us to turn that around.
4. Share and be open to new ideas. Consider ways to help all employees share ideas and innovations in the workplace. Be sure to ask all employees for regular feedback and listen closely to the overt and subversive messages you receive. Do some employees feel less comfortable sharing ideas? Do some overshare and drown others out? Those issues are a leader’s job to resolve with a supportive, inclusive company culture.
5. Highlight female construction workers. Let’s get something straight:most women I know don’t want to be called out for their gender for negative or positive reasons. They don’t want to be known as the female version of something, nor do they want pats on the back for doing something when gender is the only thing differentiating them from other people doing that exact thing. What they want, more than anything, is to fit in. For example, since most Employee of the Month programs don’t name candidates “Male Employee of the Month” there is no need to call women out the same way. However, most people I know of all genders enjoy appreciation and acknowledgement. Consider a program or initiative that highlights employees’ great work and make sure all genders are recognized for their achievements.
6. Acknowledge WIC Week. Step one is to understand why WIC Week is important (see the first point: Get educated.) Step two is to find a meaningful way for your team to participate. There are any number of ways to do that and your efforts should be both sincere and manageable. One company might present a full week of activities while another may just organize lunch on the go. In any case, acknowledgement goes a long way.
See pages 6 and 7 for a few activities that went down for WIC Week and start planning for next year. Better yet, start working on a diversity plan now so next year is less about all about showcasing your achievements.
Learn more about WIC Week at nawic.org ■
