Posted on April 22nd, 2022

General contractor Sandy DeWeese knows what it’s like to operate in the male-dominated construction sector of what’s known as the “skilled trades.” Because of her gender-neutral name, some unsuspecting prospective clients would open the door when she arrived on site and say, ‘Oh, you’re a woman.’

“There was only one time in my career that somebody didn’t give me the job because I was a woman,” recalled DeWeese, who works in the Durham and Orange county area of North Carolina. The prospective client — a woman — “did not feel a woman would actually do what she wanted, which was a bathroom renovation.” So DeWeese, who’s now in her late 50s and has been a general contractor since 2007, did not get that job.

Fortunately for DeWeese, who’s long had a passion for home improvement, her mother and grandmother always supported her construction-related pursuits. In fact, DeWeese’s grandmother built furniture for the Bassett furniture company in Virginia.

A shortage of workers in the skilled trades

The definition of “skilled trades” is fluid, but jobs typically fall into five categories: agriculture, construction, manufacturing/industrial, service (chefs, hairdressers, nursing assistants and others) and transportation.

Even before the pandemic and the subsequent labor issues it produced, there’s been a focus on the longstanding shortage of workers in the construction and manufacturing/industrial sectors. According to a 2021 report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “A majority (62%) of contractors report high difficulty finding skilled workers, up from 55% who said the same last quarter (and up 20 points year-over-year).” 

Original article: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/women-continue-to-make-progress-breaking-into-construction-and-other-skilled-trades-11648757841