Women Under Represented in Construction Industry?

It is true that women are a majority in the construction industry but is it because fewer women choose this profession or because maybe it is harder for them to get into it due to discrimination in apprenticeships and other career advancement opportunities? Check out this article about a gathering of over one thousand tradeswomen trading best practices and ways to get women more involved in the field. 

Pushing to become a more visible, vocal and valued segment of the construction workforce, more than 1,000 women craftworkers-a record number-convened in Los Angeles this month for a union- sponsored conference to share best practices in everything from pre-apprenticeships to coping with a hostile workplace to long-term career creation.

“The goal of this conference is to increase the numbers of women coming into the building trades and to enable them to stay in the trades by giving them the skills to succeed and by supporting women’s leadership on the job and in their unions,” said California Building & Construction Trades Council President Robbie Hunter.

Debra Chaplan, the council’s director of special programs and conference coordinator, said the focus on pre-apprenticeships was a new component of the gathering, which has grown substantially since it began five years ago. “Workshops specifically for pre-apprentices this year allow them to learn hands-on from women who are experts in different trades,” Chaplan said, adding that Swinerton Builders “made a sizable contribution” to sponsor 100 pre-apprentices’ attendance. “It’s all about recruitment, retention and leadership development,” she said. “Women are good hands, they want to do this, and they want to earn money.”

Read more at: http://bit.ly/1Fc7cP6