Tips for Women Working in Construction Trades
Let me shed some light on this subject, I was a female electrician in new construction for 15 years. I was 19 years old when I landed a beginners position with a large company that contracted the electrical, plumbing and a/c and heat for new commercial and residential construction. It was an accomplishment to get your foot in their door and I was not hired for a specific field. The company decided which area to train me in. Looking back, it is clear to me that company was equal opportunity before it was a requirement.
It was the perfect job for me with my "I can do ANYTHING he can do but better!" attitude. I proved myself as I advanced through the ranks and eventually had my own crew of 4-5 men roughing in and trimming out new homes. I got used to the chauvinist remarks and patronizing men and took it in stride. Those people changed their tune quickly or didn't seem to last long in this company.
Proving myself was not something that happened then I was accepted. No, I proved myself daily. I was always in someone's crosshairs but I think that helped to motivate me and I always strived to be faster and better.
Roughing in electrical in a new home is very physical as well as mental. I was 110 pounds so to hold a 30 pound drill with a 2 foot long drill bit drilling through 2 X 4's made me a force to be reckoned with. There were co workers that struggled with their views about male dominance and I tried not to react to confrontation. but there were those that spent more time trying to prove I didn't belong on the job than they did proving that they did belong.
Being young, blonde and single was a big kick working among 99% men. I never took offense when they whistled and made cat calls. I liked it when they would find excuses to walk through a house I was working in. I enjoyed the flirting and I enjoyed the double takes when I pulled up on a jobsite in my work truck (which the company bought for me) and put my tool belt on.
My tool belt is still a source of pride for me and hangs on a nail in my craft shop. It doesn't hang as well on my hips these days but I wear it with pride in my mind.
