“Women need to stop being afraid of being perceived of as aggressive.” – Lissette Calderon

Women now hold some of the top leadership positions in America, own and operate their own businesses and have even proven they can run for top positions such as the presidency. Yet when it comes to the construction industry, women still hold few jobs.

A 2007 study by Saint Louis University shows that ethnic minorities and women are being left out of the construction boom. According to the study The Road to Jobs: Patterns of Employment in the Construction Industry in Eighteen Metropolitan Areas, although women represent half the population, they hold only 6 percent or less of the construction jobs.

The study is the first of its kind, using census and other government data to examine the employment of African-Americans, Hispanics and women in the construction field in Midwestern and Northeastern cities. It also found that significant labor shortages in the construction industry will increase in the years ahead.

“The need for construction workers is rising sharply,” said Dr. Todd Swanstrom of Saint Louis University, primary author of the study and a regional equity expert.  “According to the U.S. Department of Labor, nearly 2.5 million openings in the construction industry need to be filled between 2004 and 2014. On average, the industry will have to recruit and train nearly 250,000 new workers each year.”

So why isn’t female involvement in the industry higher?  Are women taking advantage of the opportunities presented to them? Where can they turn to for assistance when breaking into the field?

Construction as a career appears to be as appealing to as many women as it does men. Take Lissette Calderon, for example. When Calderon speaks about her career in real estate development and project management, it’s apparent that she’s let little stand in the way of her professional goals. Calderon is a first-generation Cuban-American and the founder and CEO of NEO LLC – a real estate development firm based in Miami.

Real estate has given her “an incredible opportunity to take an abstract idea and make it a concrete reality,” she says. “There are few careers/hobbies in life where you can come up with a vision of a space and take that vision and make it a reality. In many ways, real estate development has close ties with interior design and fashion. You have an idea of what something should look like, yet the deal is made at the beginning in the financial planning. I think there are few [other] opportunities that allow you to be analytical and creative.”  

Not only do companies need to recognize and promote women in leadership roles, but women also have to be prepared to seek out guidance and assert themselves. Calderon has made it a point to hire women as a way of not only improving her business with the best employees, but to advance females in the industry.

Nearly 75 percent of the NEO staff is female, including those in leadership positions, such as the director of sales, president of realty and finance, director of construction, project architect, marketing coordinator, operations manager and senior accounting manager.

In certain instances, Calderon says, the lack of females in the profession might be by personal choice. “Sometimes I think women hold themselves back, and it starts at the collegiate level where women sometimes tend to shy away from more technical classes and sometimes follow what society dictates what women should or shouldn’t be,” she notes.

“One of the things that women need to stop doing is being afraid of being perceived as aggressive,” she suggests. “We are seen as aggressive in situations where men are seen as being assertive. If that’s the case, then so be it. We need to get over being afraid of that.”

Reaching Equality
According to Terri Burgess Sandu, co-interim director of Hard Hatted Women, women are instrumental in solving the labor shortage issue in construction. “Increasing diversity in the trades is not just a social good – it is essential in for the industry,” she says.

Hard Hatted Women, a Cleveland-based nonprofit organization that trains women to help them pursue careers in the trades, is one of several outreach programs committed to raising awareness about construction as a career option for females.  

Part of the issue has to do with the image that labor-intensive trade positions are somehow less respectable than other positions. Add to that long hours, frequent travel to jobsites and limited windows for enrollment in trade schools, and Burgess Sandu says some shy away from a profession in construction.  

Burgess Sandu says women face other issues on the jobsite where they might be assigned more remedial jobs or less challenging work. “They want to know if they are going to push a broom all day or have their hands on the rebar,” she states.

Although it has, at times, seemed an up-hill battle for females entering the industry, Burgess Sandu says women in construction have made strides in achieving equality. “We are reaching our 35-year mark in terms of how long we have been around,” she says. “At first it was a loose network, and in the beginning, [gaining equality in construction] was a much more confrontational approach. The movement has matured and evolved to where we are talking about things using a partnership model where we work with governments and unions for equality.”

Organizations like Hard Hatted Women, the National Association for Women in Construction and the Women Owned Small Business program have all helped females break into the industry by providing networking opportunities, financial support and mentoring programs.

“Seek out community groups that can lend support in terms of preparation and networking opportunities and help her present herself as a qualified candidate,” Burgess Sandu suggests.

“It’s up to you to really go out there and make things work,” Calderon adds. “There are people willing to help.”