What is the state of B.C.’s women in construction?

By: Grant Cameron

British Columbia’s construction industry still seems to be the last frontier in terms of attracting women to the trades, as the number of females in the field has remained relatively unchanged for years, hovering around the four-to-five-per-cent mark, depending on the trade and who you talk to.

However, there is some hope that the tide may be changing, as issues such as discrimination, bullying and harassment are now in the public eye, and a number of organizations and groups have picked up the gauntlet to try to encourage more women to get into the construction industry.

“The visibility of women in trades is still fairly low,” says Chelsea French, a member of Local 115 of the International Union of Operating Engineers in B.C. and co-chair of Build TogetHER, a committee of the B.C. Building Trades that is tailoring strategies to recruit and retain women. “There are a lot of women working in trades, however they are in small numbers on job sites and in companies.”

French, a commercial transportation mechanic by trade, says it’s a big issue with lots of layers but, personally, she believes a big reason for the low numbers is that women still aren’t exposed to the trades.

“There is still a tonne of advertising for toys that show tool boxes and building sets with boys only on the cover and I know, as a parent, my little girls see this and think it’s not meant for them, even with a mother who works with tools.”

Read more >> https://canada.constructconnect.com/joc/news/labour/2019/06/state-b-c-s-women-construction