Colarelli Construction recently hosted a roundtable luncheon for tradeswomen in construction, to hear from women in our industry and learn from their experiences on jobsites. Our vibrant conversation with these women revolved around a few primary topics: what drew each to construction and what keeps them working in the field; what challenges they face as women on the jobsite; and what can we do to recruit and retain women in the field.
As we at CCI reflect on what we heard during the roundtable, we saw several common threads emerge. Women in the trades love working with their hands, enjoy formal training to learn and progress in their careers, and form strong bonds with each’s specific community of trade laborers. The community aspect was key to job satisfaction.
When discussing challenges and overcoming challenges in the field, several themes also became clear. Tradeswomen want to work with other women on the jobsite, not be isolated on location. Additionally, they appreciate those companies and male supervisors who create a culture of respect, for everyone, on the job. Women expect a work environment that is respectful, an environment where co-workers simply allow them to apply their skills and work—and an environment that is free from gender-based comments. It was also clear that these women want opportunities to develop their skills sets and grow professionally.
To recruit and retain other women to the construction industry, the tradeswomen in attendance shared several ideas for better supporting women new to construction.
The takeaways from our day were salient and clearly communicated. All in all, what we learned from this roundtable affirmed the research that we have been doing and provides a roadmap for CCI to begin to address this great deficiency in our industry. In the weeks ahead, we will implement a series of initiatives to address these issues within our organization.