Great article by CNN Money about the increase in WBEs and tradeswomen, and how there's still much more room to grow female participation in the construction industry. Thank you to Mary Vogel of The Construction Institute for sharing!
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NEW YORK (Fortune)
According to the National Women's Law Center, in 2010 women held a tiny percentage -- 2.6 -- of the U.S.'s 8.4 million construction jobs, the same percentage they held in 1983. The NWLC faults "barriers such as gender stereotypes, sexual harassment, a lack of awareness about opportunities in construction, and insufficient instruction."
But while women may not be gaining ground in trades like carpentry and plumbing, they are increasingly getting involved on the entrepreneurial side of the industry. The U.S. Census Bureau counted 152,871 women-owned construction firms in 1997. Ten years later, that number had jumped by 76% to 268,809. Women are steadily chiseling away at that concrete ceiling. Or, as Lenore Janis, president of the National Association of Professional Women in Construction, put it, "Our fingernails are broken from scratching at it."
For the past 15 years, the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) has compiled its Inner City 100 list, highlighting the fastest-growing urban small businesses in America. This year's list includes 28 women-owned businesses, a double in percentage since 1999, the list's inaugural year. While many of these businesses are taking advantage of the burgeoning "mommy market," several are breaking into industries heavily dominated by men, including construction.
In addition to the efforts of the women themselves, Janis sees the growth as a direct result of a 35-year-old goal set by the Office for Federal Contract Compliance Programs. Since 1978, federal contractors are required to employ women for 6.9% of the total construction work hours on any federal project. (For it's part, the NWLC says that considering the much higher rates of female participation in other typically male dominated fields like policing, butchering, and machine operation, 6.9% is still "not enough.")
We've all heard about the glass ceiling, but it looks the concrete one might be harder to crack.
But while women may not be gaining ground in trades like carpentry and plumbing, they are increasingly getting involved on the entrepreneurial side of the industry. The U.S. Census Bureau counted 152,871 women-owned construction firms in 1997. Ten years later, that number had jumped by 76% to 268,809. Women are steadily chiseling away at that concrete ceiling. Or, as Lenore Janis, president of the National Association of Professional Women in Construction, put it, "Our fingernails are broken from scratching at it."
For the past 15 years, the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) has compiled its Inner City 100 list, highlighting the fastest-growing urban small businesses in America. This year's list includes 28 women-owned businesses, a double in percentage since 1999, the list's inaugural year. While many of these businesses are taking advantage of the burgeoning "mommy market," several are breaking into industries heavily dominated by men, including construction.
In addition to the efforts of the women themselves, Janis sees the growth as a direct result of a 35-year-old goal set by the Office for Federal Contract Compliance Programs. Since 1978, federal contractors are required to employ women for 6.9% of the total construction work hours on any federal project. (For it's part, the NWLC says that considering the much higher rates of female participation in other typically male dominated fields like policing, butchering, and machine operation, 6.9% is still "not enough.")
Read the remainder of this article at money.cnn.com.
