Repost: NSTAR Women in Non-Traditional Careers Event

Repost: Society of Women Engineers to Receive the National Building Museum's Henry C. Turner Prize for Innovation in Construction Technology Award

For Immediate Release: December 11, 2012
Media Contacts: Marketing and Communication Department

Source: www.nbm.org

The National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. to host award ceremony and talk on February 5, 2013

Photo courtesy of Society of Women Engineers.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Building Museum will award the Society of Women Engineers its Henry C. Turner Prize for Innovation in Construction Technology. The Turner Prize jury chose the Society of Women Engineers for its more than 60-year history of giving women engineers a unique place and voice within the engineering industry. The Society currently serves more than 22,000 members and is a proponent of strengthening science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education for women.

The Museum’s executive director, Chase W. Rynd, will present the prize during a ceremony at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, February 5, 2013, from 6:30–8 pm. Betty Shanahan, executive director and CEO of the Society of Women Engineers, will deliver a lecture titled “Diversity Fueling Innovation,” and discuss strategies to recruit, retain, and promote women and other under-represented populations in STEM professions. Registration for the event is required. To register, visit go.nbm.org/turner-prize.

The Society of Women Engineers was selected unanimously as the recipient of the Turner Prize by a jury composed of five members:
•    M. Arthur Gensler, founder and chairman of the architectural firm Gensler
•    Harold J. Parmelee, past president of Turner Construction Company
•    Clyde Tatum, professor and chair, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University
•    Janice L. Tuchman, editor in chief, Engineering News Record
•    Christopher A. McFadden, vice president for communications, Turner Construction Company

“The future of the construction industry depends on attracting a more diverse workforce,” said Janice L. Tuchman, editor-in-chief of Engineering News-Record and Turner Prize juror. “The Society of Women Engineers is a driving force in bringing women into engineering careers through training, networking, scholarships, and outreach.” Fellow juror and past president of Turner Construction Company Hal Parmelee added, “Women have been a welcome force to the team of people who are in construction. Their professional leadership contributions have not only enhanced the process of construction but the quality of facilities for the end user, the public at large.”

To read the full article, visit www.nbm.org.

Repost: Order to give boost to minorities, women in construction

Mayor Francis Slay signs Executive Order #46
(Photo from the City of St. Louis)

10:04 AM, Dec 12, 2012

Written by Kristen Gosling

St. Louis (KSDK) -  St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay issued an executive order effective immediately to try and increase the number of women and minorities involved in construction jobs.

Executive Order #46 extends the existing workforce goals on city public works projects, commonly known as Board Bill 75, to all TIF projects that are $1-million or larger. The first such project will be the CORTEX project in the Central West End. CORTEX is embarking on a $186 million development that will bring 1,400 new jobs and 384,000 square feet of additional lab and office space to the district.

The workforce goals are as follows:

• Twenty five percent of labor hours are to be performed by minorities. 
• Five percent of labor hours are to be performed by women. 
• 20% of labor hours are to be performed by City residents, although those hours can also be counted towards the first two goals. 
• Fifteen percent of all hours are to be performed by apprentices enrolled in an approved training program, although those hours can be counted towards the first two goals.

The St. Louis Development Corporation and the St. Louis Area Agency on Training will implement the order.

The goals will be in effect until the city completes a disparity study next summer, whic would measure existing workforce capacity adn utilization. The disparity study will set new goals.

Read the original article at www.ksdk.com or watch video coverage of the story at www.fox2now.com.

Sources: KSDK and FOX2Now

Repost: Woman of Distinction Award 2013 Call for Entries

The Women in Concrete Alliance (WICA) has announced the call for entries for the third annual Woman of Distinction award.

The Award was created to celebrate women in the industry. To submit a nomination, send an email to kmoosmann@constructivecommunication.com with details on why this person is worthy of being selected. Be sure to include their full name, title, company, years in the industry as well as a paragraph about their accomplishments. Don't forget your contact information!

The deadline for all nominations is December 31, 2012. The winner will be announced at the World of Concrete on February 6, 2013.

Read the full press release at www.womeninconcrete.org.

Source: Women in Concrete Alliance (WICA)

Repost: Zimbabwe - Storming Into a Man's World

BY FORTIOUS NHAMBURA, 7 DECEMBER 2012

Charlotte Chani - clad in worksuit, helmet on her head and a trowel in hand - walks confidently to her workplace. It is 7.45am and Chani is about to start her day's work. She is bricklayer. As usual, she is the first to get to the workplace, something that even her male counterparts have failed to do. She has always accomplished her daily target of laying 600 bricks with ease despite being also the supervisor of the team.

Once her counterparts could not agree with Charlotte's choice to head the building brigade as they felt she was too young to lead them.

At 24, she commands a building brigade of 12 builders, with some men old enough to be her father.

But as destiny could have it prescribed, she has to lead and she does that with distinction.

For some of her workmates the hatred has now evolved into respect.

Charlotte is among the few women who have taken the construction industry by storm. They are bound not only to be part of the booming industry but to play a meaningful role in the sector that has been a male preserve.

That is the mission of the Zimbabwe Women in Construction Association, an organisation established with the primary objective of supporting women in the construction industry in Zimbabwe. The association is driven by the will to achieve more. ZWICA members are agreed that time has come to engender the sector and ensure more women participate fully in it.

Even companies with stakes in the construction industry are beginning to see the wisdom of bringing women in the sector and have started to contribute.

ZWICA president Mrs Elizabeth Chakadunga said years of working in a male-dominated environment had given her the zeal to open up opportunities for women in construction. As such she and others started the association of women in the construction industry.

Read the full article at allafrica.com.

Repost: Maine's Women, Work, and Community hosts Totally Trades conferences

Women, Work, and Community (WWC) recently organized two successful Totally Trades conferences – one in Westbrook on October 19 and a second in Calais on October 26.  All in all, nearly 200 girls were in attendance at the conferences.  The Calais conference, hosted by Washington County Community College, featured a new video directed and produced by female students from St. Croix Regional Technology Center (SCRTC).  The video profiles a successful female welding and commercial truck driving student.  The Westbrook conference was hosted by Westbrook Regional Vocational Center (WRVC).  At both conferences, girls in grades 8-12 explored careers in trades and technology by participating in a variety of  hands-on workshops, many taught by female instructors and professionals.  As one girl said, “I think it was really fun and cool.  I wish I could come again.”  Another student in attendance proclaimed, “Us ladies can reach our goals without anyone getting in our way!”

Suzanne Senechal-Jandreau, Regional Manager of the Aroostook center for WWC and conference organizer for Totally Trades in Calais, remarks, “The collective energy and enthusiasm of the girls throughout the day at Totally Trades is infectious.  Whether it be learning a new skill in a construction or auto-body workshop, taking a drive in a 14-wheeler, trying some self-defense moves, or being inspired by girls and women who prove that ‘men’s work’ is a misnomer, Totally Trades has something to offer for any girl considering her career options for the future.”

Read the original article at womenworkandcommunity.org.

Repost: Opportunities are plentiful in the trades

Metal fabricator Mila Puharich on the job.

Here in British Columbia, skilled workers are needed in numerous sectors, with opportunities to be found both here at home and farther afield.

The BC Jobs Plan 6 Month Progress Report recently noted, for example, that Seaspan Marine Corporation’s $8 billion contract to build non-combat vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard and the Royal Canadian Navy at their shipyards in North Vancouver and Esquimalt will provide long-standing jobs, directly and indirectly, for roughly 4,000 British Columbians.

Mila Puharich hopes to be part of this good news. She’s just starting her career but she’s already forging uncharted territory as the first female metal fabricator in her workplace in more than 60 years.

“I’m really truly the first woman they’ve ever seen in the steel fitting trade there. They are welders, electricians and riggers, but I’ve yet to meet another woman fitter.”

She also gets to hone her craft on all kinds of marine vehicles from boats, to ships, to submarines.

For heavy duty mechanic Taylor Paulson, inspired to follow his uncle into the trade, Camosun College’s heavy-duty mechanic certificate program gave him everything he needed to launch his new career. “The program was great. After 10 months in the classroom I was happy to start the hands-on stuff, the good stuff,” says Taylor.  “I received grants for my program, which were a nice boost early on.”

Today, Paulson is working in Tumbler Ridge, in northern B.C., supporting the province’s booming mining industry. “I make sure the mines are running smoothly: I diagnose and repair support trucks and equipment, sometimes I’ll be on-site, and other times I’ll have to do repairs at the shop. I’m proud that I work here in B.C. – it’s beautiful here, the hunting is fantastic, there’s amazing hiking, a world-class snowmobile system and fresh river fishing, too.”

For Puharich, two programs were key in connecting her as a female metal fabricator with her job: WITT or Women in Trades and STEP. WITT is geared towards helping employers in B.C. get the skilled workers they need by matching them with women who have some experience, or who want to start a career, in the trades. STEP is a no-fee employment program that works to match potential workers with employers. They assist eligible people by presenting them with opportunities for training and employment.

It’s no surprise Puharich gets excited when talking about WITT. “The WITT program is awesome. Karen McNeil at Camosun is the goddess of apprentices. She directed me to funding, grants and helped connect me to the STEP program. The support system there is like a trampoline, it just makes you go higher! STEP (then) helped get me the interview with Victoria Shipyards.”

To find out about these and other skills training programs visit https://www.workbc.ca/Education-Training/Programs/Pages/Employment-Programs.aspx.

Puharich continues with on-the-job training and additional courses, learning from mentors with the know-how to build more awesome boats, ships and yes, even submarines.

View the original article at www.sookenewsmirror.com.

Repost: Oregon tradeswomen archive their blue-collar career histories

By Andrea Castillo, The Oregonian on November 10, 2012 at 6:25 PM, updated November 10, 2012 at 7:20 PM

Betty Kendall, 83, holds her grandmother's volt-ammeter while being recorded by Vivian Jones, a California State University Dominguez Hills associate professor, as part of her international Tradeswomen Archives Project. Women were invited Saturday to contribute virtual and material artifacts of their experiences to help build a comprehensive record of women in non-traditional jobs. Ross William Hamilton/The Oregonian

Betty Kendall was the only mechanic at Ed's Auto Electric to wear pearls underneath her coveralls.

It was 1976. Kendall, now 83, had just received her Associate of Arts degree from Portland Community College in auto mechanics. Just one year earlier, she had been named the first woman in the country to become certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence as a master mechanic.

She had a knack for fixing things that not everyone in the male-dominated trade appreciated. But Kendall said her drive to be self-sufficient was more overwhelming than the anger of those who thought it was too counter-cultural.

"In those days, a woman complained once and then she was a troublemaker," she said.

Kendall was one of 12 tradeswomen who took part in an archiving event to document their history. The international Tradeswomen Archives Project hosted the Saturday event at Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc., a Northeast Portland nonprofit that helps women access careers in non-traditional blue-collar work.

Vivian Price, an associate professor at California State University Dominguez Hills, runs the archiving project. She called it a "grassroots movement" to document tradeswomens' lives, now that many are just beginning to retire.

"Their records and stories could be lost," said Price, a former electrician. "We're trying to make sure that doesn't happen."

Penny Painter started working construction in 1980. She was a single mom and needed to make more money than her $5 an hour receptionist position allowed.

Painter, 55, started out cleaning construction job sites. Her income immediately doubled.

She knew the job would come with opposition from her male counterparts, but she earned respect by being a hard worker with a no-nonsense attitude.

And with her hair braided under a hard hat, Painter blended in.

"You couldn't tell I was a female except for my nails, which were nice and pretty," she said. "They were always blood red – the same color as my Harley."

Painter said the view of women in the construction field is changing.
 "It doesn't matter who you are," she said. "Most contractors don't care as long as you can do the job and will try hard."

As for Kendall, she found that many people didn't understand why a woman would ever want to be a mechanic. On the job hunt, she was called a "starry-eyed idealist" and told to go back to being a housewife. She got kicked out of boot shops and ran into trouble buying coveralls that fit.

Her interest in the trade stemmed from growing up in the country. Life there contrasted with the city, she said, where the aftermath of the industrial revolution had deepened gender segregation.

On the farm, Kendall watched her grandmother fix their tractor. She still wore a dress, quilted and made award-winning angel food cakes, but when something needed fixing, she could do it.

"These are things women have been doing for years," said Kendall, who also raised three children with her husband, a professor of medicine.

That explains the pearls hidden under her coveralls: a few times a week, Kendall would rush after work to meet her husband at evening receptions, when she'd quickly wipe the grease off her hands and swap the coveralls for a dress.

-- Andrea Castillo

Repost: Meet an 80-year-old female mechanic at Oregon Tradeswomen Archives Project in Northeast Portland

By Larry Bingham, The Oregonian 
on November 08, 2012 at 2:46 PM, updated November 08, 2012 at 4:34 PM

Email | Print

Joanna Neal (left) and Becca VandeWalle, students at Oregon Tradeswomen Inc., construct benches for a picnic table for Village Gardens in North Portland. Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc.
The Oregon Tradeswomen nonprofit will hold a special event Saturday in Northeast Portland exploring the history of women in trade careers. Among the guests will be an 80-year-old female auto mechanic and a 60-year-old carpenter.

The organization, which helps women access living-wage careers in construction, aims to document tradeswomen history. Saturday's event, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., is sponsored by the Tradeswomen Archives Project in California.

The tradeswomen archiving event will be held at the Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. office, 3934 N.E. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd, #101. For more info, contact Dawn Jones at 503-335-8200 x 31.

For Northeast news, follow me on Facebook & Twitter.

-- Larry Bingham

Repost: Syracuse women build homes

Women in Construction

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Kori Hale


Read the original transcript at https://nccnews.expressions.syr.edu.

Repost: The Mag Interview | Alise Martiny helps women build a future

THE MAG INTERVIEW

The Mag Interview | Alise Martiny helps women build a future

BY CINDY HOEDEL

The Kansas City Star

JILL TOYOSHIBA

Alise Martiny, who had been a concrete finisher for 32 years, is now the business manager at the Greater Kansas City Trades Council.

Alise Martiny of Merriam is business manager for the Greater Kansas City Building and Trades Council. This conversation took place at Crossroads Coffeehouse.

Q What is the Building and Trades Council?

AThe AFL-CIO is the umbrella organization over all of organized labor. Underneath that are different departments, and one is building trades. So I work with all the construction trades on a daily basis.

Q How did you end up with this big union job? It’s not the kind of post people expect a woman to fill.

A No, it’s not. I’m the first female to hold that job in Kansas City and in Missouri. I’ve been in construction a long time.

Q How did you get into it?

A I was going to KU and I got up there and decided it wasn’t for me. Came home and heard an ad on the radio trying to get more minorities and females into the construction industry. This was 1980, when President Carter was pushing for affirmative action.

Q How did you get trained?

A I did an apprenticeship program with the cement masons.

Q How much does it cost to get into an apprenticeship program like that?

A Nothing. It’s all paid for by private dollars from labor management. So it makes a lot more sense for some people than taking on huge debt for college — it’s become people’s highest debt after home mortgages.

The programs are three to five years and when you start out you start out on a 50 percent scale, which is about $14 to $20 bucks an hour.

And you start right out getting health insurance and a pension, which not a lot of people get anymore.

Q You spend a lot of time speaking to young women about construction jobs. What is your message to them?

A That there are great opportunities for women in construction. Our numbers for women are very low. Our goal for females in Kansas City, Missouri, is 2 percent, and we are meeting that, but just barely.

Q Wow. Two percent is the goal?

A Yes, it’s low. It’s so sad.

Q Why do you think it’s so low?

A If you look at what it is across the country, it’s 3 1/2 to 4 percent. That’s low, and we are still lagging.

I think we haven’t done a good job of letting women know that they can do this job. Construction is a great job for a woman, especially if she is trying to provide health insurance, a pension and a livable wage for her and her family.

Read the full interview at http://www.kansascity.com/.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/10/24/3879488/star-magazine-interview-alise.html#storylink=cpy

Repost: Pioneer tradeswoman to read at Queen Anne Books

Queen Anne-based author Hadiyah Joan Carlyle will read from her memoir Torch in the Dark: One Woman’s Journey at Queen Anne Books, 1811 Queen Anne Ave. N. on Thursday, Oct. 18 at 6:30 p.m.

Carlyle’s book tells the story of how she, as a single mother, was one of the first women since World War II to enter the trades as a union welder. Beginning in a Jewish immigrant neighborhood in New Jersey, the story moves through San Francisco’s colorful Haight-Ashbury in the 1960s to arrive at last at Fairhaven Shipyard in Bellingham. For Carlyle, welding became both a path to self-reliance and economic survival and a metaphor for healing from early childhood trauma. “As one of the first female welders in the West Coast shipyards, Carlyle paved the way for women working in the trades today,” comments Arleen Williams, author of The Thirty-Ninth Victim.

The story of Carlyle’s journey offers inspiration for anyone struggling with issues of abuse and oppression. In addition, the book provides perspective on the culture of the 1960s and 1970s. “No one has even come close to the depth and detail of the sixties that Carlyle reaches,” says Jack Remick, author of The Deification and Blood.

Activist, hiker, grandmother, Carlyle is the mother of Washington State 36th District Legislator Reuven Carlyle.  More information about Torch in the Dark is available at www.torchinthedark.com.

Read the original article at http://queenannenews.com/.

Repost: NAWIC Installs 2012-2013 National President and New Board Members

NEWS RELEASE
September 25, 2012

NAWIC Installs 2012-2013 National President and New Board Members

Cindy Johnsen, CBT, CDS, CIT leads NAWIC 

FORT WORTH, TEXAS — The National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) installed Cindy Johnsen, CBT, CDS, CIT, as its 58th National President during NAWIC’s Annual Meeting and Convention in Denver, Colo. on Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. Johnsen, an office administrator III for Granite Construction Company, has been a member of NAWIC’s San Bernardino-Riverside, Calif. Chapter since 1997.

Johnsen has exciting plans for her term as NAWIC president. She said, “My vision is to start the development of professional development programs in NAWIC that can be published and utilized throughout the industry to develop strong leaders/mentors and great employees.”

Asked about her top priority while in office, Johnsen said, “To revitalize our association. Now is the time for NAWIC! What better time to go after new members—we are in a revitalization mode so no idea is off the table. We need to hear every idea and determine if it is a fit for NAWIC. This includes the implementation of a professional development committee that assists with the groundwork for our new strategic plan goal to ‘develop and implement a Professional Development Program with multiple tracks by 2017.’”

Johnsen also plans to:

• Re-release the NAWIC Builds brand and logo to local chapters so they can utilize it locally and increase the brand’s visibility.
• Roll out NAWIC’s new strategic plan and encourage members to buy in.
• Increase NAWIC’s member retention rate.

NAWIC also installed officers President-Elect Yasmine A. Branden, CCA, Portland, Ore. Chapter; Vice President Sandy K. Field, CBT, CIT, Houston, Texas Chapter; Treasurer Connie M. Leipard, CIT, Central Missouri Chapter; Secretary Dove Sifers-Putman, Charlotte, N.C. Chapter; and Immediate Past President Judy DeWeese, CBT, CIT, San Antonio, Texas Chapter.

In addition to the officers, the NAWIC board is comprised of a national director from each of the association’s 14 regions. Each director serves a two-year term and is elected by her peers to bring the wishes and needs of the chapters to the attention of the association. New directors installed include:

• Region 2 Director Stephanie K. Crane, CIT, Greater Birmingham, Ala. Chapter; 
• Region 4 Director Mardi K. Gauer, Akron, Ohio Chapter; 
• Region 6 Director Beverly J. Sauerwein, CIT, Greater Wichita, Kan. Chapter; 
• Region 8 Director Karen Edmonston, El Paso, Texas Chapter; 
• Region 10 Director Donnalyn Revis, CIT, Santa Clara, Calif. Chapter; 
• Region 12 Director Keri S. Hawkins, CBT, Las Vegas, Nev. Chapter; and
• Region 14 Director Carol O’Donnell, CIT, No. 1 of Rhode Island Chapter.

NAWIC region directors serving the second year of their term include:

• Region 1 Director Maura C. Hesdon, LEED AP, Philadelphia, Pa. Chapter; 
• Region 3 Director Jean L. Cox, CBT, Greater Orlando, Fla. Chapter; 
• Region 5 Director Phyllis F. Haynes, Jackson, Miss. Chapter; 
• Region 7 Director Gracie Narey, CIT, Fort Worth, Texas Chapter; 
• Region 9 Director Dalene Schafer Bloom, Portland, Ore. Chapter; 
• Region 11 Director Deborah L. Knight, CDS, CIT, Greater Tidewater, Va. Chapter; and 
• Region 13 Director Amy Berg, CBT, CIT, Fargo-Moorhead, N.D.

# # #

Learn more about the National Association of Women in Construction and see the original press release at www.nawic.org.

Repost: Skilled Women Break Through Barriers to Entry and Promotion in Trades Work

Saturday, 06 October 2012
By Eleanor J Bader, Truthout | Report

Although role models are scarce, training is hard to find and sexism is rampant, determined women are finding professional success and satisfaction in the skilled trades: construction, sheet metal working, welding, pipefitting - and more.

When Leah Rambo became a sheet metal worker in 1988, she never imagined that she'd one day run the apprenticeship program for Local 38 of the Sheet Metal Air and Rail Transportation Union. But a little more than a year ago, she became one of the highest-ranking women in the US labor movement, taking the helm of a hands-on, 4 1/2-year training program for sheet metal workers in New York City and Nassau and Suffolk counties.

This year, the program has 306 students, eight percent of them female.

"The challenge is not only to get women enrolled," Rambo says. "If you promote trades work to women, and they see other women doing the jobs, a lot will want in. The bigger challenge is improving the conditions so they stay in the field. Most women experience discrimination or harassment. As a matter of fact, when you are a woman, nobody - not the bosses and not your co-workers - sees your color. Your gender is much more important than your ethnicity or race. The sexism is not as bad as it was, but it is always an issue. Women are still hit on, still don't get the same promotion opportunities and still get laid off more frequently than men." ...

To read the full article, visit truth-out.org.

Repost: Turner's graduate programme good for industry

Turner, one of America's foremost Construction firms, has recently celebrated the graduation of its most recent crop of graduates from its esteemed programme aimed at minorities and women

3 OCT 2012, Stanley Jackson

Turner Construction Company’s Chicago office recently held a graduation ceremony for 48 graduates of the firm’s Turner School of Construction Management Program for minority and women-owned business enterprises (M/WBEs). Sponsors of the program this year included, Exelon Corporation, Roosevelt University’s Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate, The City of Chicago’s Department of Procurement, and endorsements from the Chicago Minority Business Development Council, Westwood College, the Women’s Business Development Center, The Federation of Women Contractors, and the U.S. Green Building Council.

“Another successful year of making a significant impact to the minority and women owned business community.  We are very proud of our 48 graduates as well as the time and effort dedicated by the Turner staff in organizing, supporting and teaching the program,” said Rick Blair, General Manager of Turner’s Chicago and Indianapolis operations.

Read more at www.constructiondigital.com.

Job Opportunity: Suffolk Construction is hiring a Compliance Officer

Position Summary:

The Compliance Officer monitors and reports on the goals and requirements related to workforce compliance and the use of minority, woman and disabled-owned businesses on all projects in Suffolk’s Northeast Region.  In addition, the Compliance Officer provides guidance to project management teams on matters relating to such goals and requirements. The Compliance Officer also plays an active role in outreach to and establishing relationships with local, state and community agencies, groups and organizations.

Department: Legal

Reports To:  Director of Diversity & Workforce Compliance

Direct Reports: None

Location: Boston, MA

Status: Full Time/Exempt Salary

To read the full job responsibilities or apply for this position, visit Suffolk Construction's website.

Repost: Building career in construction possible for women too

COURTESY GILBANE

HOUSE RULES: Pamela House, senior accountant at Gilbane Building Co., says companies and programs need to begin talking about alternative career paths as early as middle school.

By Rebecca KeisterPBN Staff WriterPosted 10/1/12

Pamela House considers herself lucky to have found someone willing to take a chance and offer her a foot in the door to a lifelong career when she was a single mother in the late 1970s, with only a part-time job and no real job training.

That the career happened to be in construction was even more unheard of for women than it may be today. But House relished the opportunity to make her way up the chain at Gilbane Building Company, where she works as a senior accountant.

In September she was awarded the Crystal Achievement Award from the National Association of Women in Construction, an organization she has belonged to for close to 20 years. She has held several leadership roles with the group, including on its board of directors.

PBN: Why do you think women might be reluctant to consider a career in the construction industry?

House: Because there's the stereotypical digging the ditch [assumption about the work] and not realizing the full range of possibilities that there are. This industry is about a lot more, everything from architects to accountants to IT. Right now, there's a revolution in the construction industry and the technology is incredible. It's incredible the amount of knowledge that [you need] for this job. I'd like to see more women in the trades and there's really no reason there shouldn't be. The days of women not being [able] to be out in the field are gone.

PBN: But are there some job functions women cannot do, simply because of size and strength?

House: That's up to them. There's a lot of women who can do some physical stuff better than some guys. [But] no one is expecting someone to do a job they can't do. As long as you can keep up, the days of physical limitations are over. It's hard to attract the next generation to the trades, because it's a different animal today. Maybe the reason is a lot of young people have been behind a computer all their lives. Girls in nontraditional trades are an age-old problem. That's why [someone] encouraged me to think outside the box. I do believe that afforded me to work my way up in the time when the industry was growing.

To read the full interview, visit the Providence Business News at www.pbn.com.