Posted on March 13, 2023
Post categories: Alumni & Industry Construction Management Equity, Diversity & Inclusion News
Women in construction management: charting a path forward
By Darlene Septelka and Lingzi Wu
University of Washington
As the industry celebrates Women in Construction Week, it’s a great time for us to reflect on the progress that has been made to date and look ahead to what needs to be done to continue advancing the representation and participation of women in our industry.
Status of women diversity in the construction industry
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for 2022, women can cheer since they currently have 1.29 million construction jobs, up 3.65% from 2021. This could seem positive at first glance — more women are employed in the construction sector. Yet the most important question that needs to be answered is: While the overall number is growing, is the traditionally male-dominated industry embracing more diversity? The BLS data for a 20-year period was then examined, and we discovered that the overall gain was only 1.28% since 2003, and only 10.9% of construction workers were women in 2022. If we continue on our current course, we won’t reach 2 women to 10 men until 2055.