Posted on 04/01/2022 2:41:53 PM PDT by nickcarraway
South Florida construction boom means more jobs for women
You may not initially think of women in construction, an industry once dominated by men.
But in 2022, during a building boom in South Florida, industry leaders believe things are changing when it comes to gender and jobs.
Nekita Whyte works in the South Florida construction business as an assistant operations manager.
"I like it because there is a day-to-day challenge," she said.
Her boots are on the ground at the job site alongside hundreds of men.
Nekita Whyte shares what she likes about working in the construction field. "There is ... one woman to every 30 men," she said.
Whyte is still one of few women in the field but said things are changing.
"When I walk onto a job site, I don't feel there is a surprise that I am there," she said. "I feel that there is a respect that I am there. I am not ostracized or left out of any conversations. My opinion is considered and I am supported."
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"We are definitely seeing a spike in participation from females," he said. "Traditionally, it's been a man's business. I mean that's out, that is no longer a thing. … South Florida is booming with construction, so there are a ton of opportunities for men and women to join."
Melisa Perez is one of those women. She is 25 years old and an assistant project manager.
"Every company is hiring right now," Perez said. "I think the industry is becoming more inviting to women."
She's noticed a change in even just a few years.
Melisa Perez, female construction worker WPTV Melisa Perez believes the construction industry is becoming more inviting to women. "When I first started, it was intimidating," she said. "In every meeting, you are the only woman, and not only are you the only woman, I'm usually the youngest person in the room as well."
Perez graduated from the construction management program at the University of Florida.
"I studied construction in college, and my class specifically, had the largest percentage of women that they had seen in years," she explained. "We had a class of 30, and there were about 10 girls in it, so that is huge."
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women make up about 11% of total construction jobs. When it comes to on-site jobs, it's only about one in 100. But industry leaders said the tides are turning now.
"I think it just really goes back to that intimidation factor, maybe it was considered a man's world, but from a management perspective, it's not, it's not. It doesn't really need to be predominately men, and I really think that is no longer a thing," Watson said. "I think this is just going to be a continuing trend that we see."
Adam Watson, a senior project manager for Current Builders, WPTV Adam Watson says recruiters are looking to hire more to work in construction. It's a trend that women in the business see are on the right path, but believe it has a long way to go.
"I just hope to see one day see more women in the industry with leadership roles," Perez said. "I think, right now, it is just starting to become popular, so hopefully in the next 10 years, you'll start to see a lot more women-owned construction companies."
"I know that I have been raised to be fearless and accept challenges as they come, and as I would encourage any other woman, just go for it," Whyte said.
All in all, a different skill set is now being invited into what was once called a man's world.
"I know all the men are going to hate this statement, but it's true," Watson said. "Construction, you have to be able to juggle several items at the same time. And, there is no question that women are better than that than men. Sorry guys, but that's that."
I hear they do some really nice work with bridges.
Well they did do a lot of male-dominated jobs while the guys were off fighting WWII.
I’ve seen a lot of women on road construction, usually holding the stop/slow sign.
I was going to say, we need a picture of a woman-designed and woman-built pedestrian bridge that was lying in the middle of a highway. That was back in 2018; six people lost their lives in that little adventure; ten were injured, but they helped to in break the glass ceiling, so there’s that.
theyre just like a lot of guys on site... some are worth the money, some aint worth af... some are dangerous. if a broad can come in and do the job fine... but if theyre a distraction and a pain in the a$$, well they shouldnt be there.
A big job just 2 months ago i was on the new VA Hospital goin up in Detroit, had the electrical contractor just cutting power to areas of the building with no warning what so ever... guys running power tools and bam, the place goes dark. No one cared. the super just shrugged it off... so since my faith has dropped a bit, i’ll just worry about me and collect the check. let em hire all the women they want...
Her career never recovered.
Yeah. I remember a couple of concrete mixer drivers that were women. They were actually good. But I don’t recall any rod busters or finishers that were women. There might be a few women here and there that do heavy duty construction but I wouldn’t want to date them.
Nobody’s been stopping women from construction or garbage collection or other physical, grim, dangerous male dominated jobs.
Women tend to do certain jobs same as men tend to do other jobs.
Circa 1975 my sister was a deckhand and cook on an ocean going tugboat. I think the Captain liked her. He married her. She did her job as deckhand and cook. Her other activities I do not know. :)
Is that true? I thought it had been debunked?
Women take the easy jobs and the desk jobs and the customer service jobs that men used to take when they were hurt or too old or ill to work the trades full bore. So now men have to go on disability instead. Women
At one company where I worked years ago, they stopped hiring women installers. The men had to stop their work to drive over
to help them with any heavy task they couldn’t do.
It is about all bogus anymore. Women have been working into all these kind of jobs since the late 1970s. It ain’t a big deal anymore, it just always have to be hyped like this is a first time thing.
Are women construction workers penised women or unpenised women ?
Men built everything before but somehow he thinks men could never multi-task?
Civilization is imploding primarily due to the fact that females need to become like men. Historical empirical evidence shows when that happens, civilizations die. We have a higher mortality rate than live births, good luck with that “right side of history” ignoramuses.
How do you know they’re women?
I grew up with a girl that worked with her Dad on the farm everyday. She was 18 in the late 1970s and still farms today.
He must be a biologist!
Are you referring to the FIU pedestrian bridge? If so, I'm not sure where you got your facts, but they aren't accurate.
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