Page 25 - BusinessWest January 23, 2023

BUILDING TRADES >>
Yes, They
Women Are Taking
Careers in the Trades
into Their Own Hands
Can
BY KAILEY HOULE
BusinessWest
<< BUILDING TRADES >>
JANUARY 23, 2023 25
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The construction trades employed an estimated 1,241,000 women in 2021. While that may seem like a high number, it represents only 11% of all construction trade workers in the U.S. But that percentage includes those working in administrative and office posi- tions; when it comes to tradeswomen working in the field, on job sites, the percentage falls to 4%.
But times are changing, to an extent. Since 2016, there has been a 32% increase in women working in the trades — and a decrease in folks who don’t think they can do the job.
“Every once in a while, I still get that, but for the most part, people are pretty receptive to it,” said Abby Sullivan, who has owned a waste- management business for 11 years. “The biggest part is, I get on the
“It’s not something that most girls do
or are into — and at the the beginning, it was a little harder
to be taken seriously.”
From left, Charlene Metcalf, Kailee Grigas, Tracy Routhiee, Lia Oliveira, Jes Thayer, and Liz Wambui