Ways Women Are Overcoming Hurdles and Making Gains in Construction Careers

Bias on the construction jobsite is often unconscious, but it ultimately affects women's experience of working in the skilled trades and other construction careers, Safety+Health magazine reports. One industry expert says women in construction long have reported a disparity in training based on gender, and for women in the construction trades, social stereotyping may contribute to unfair treatment or negative encounters on the job. One example? A perception among some male counterparts and field supervisors that women lack the physical strength of their male counterparts.

Kathi Dobson, safety director for St. Louis-based Alberici Constructors Inc. and a member of OSHA’s National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health points out: 

“When you think about, ‘Oh, you know what? A woman isn’t as strong as a man, so she can’t do the big job that a man can do,’ you’re going to run into situations like, ‘Let me help you with that,’ or, ‘I’ll carry that for you,’ or, ‘I’ll do that for you,’” Dobson said.

“In reality, most of the things nowadays that we’re faced with from either a lifting, pushing or pulling experience, if it’s more than 50 pounds, we’re going to have help anyhow. Or we’re going to use a mechanical device to move things around.”

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