Editorial Note: This article was brought to you courtesy of Rose Morrison, managing editor of Renovated.com.
Women in construction are gaining prominence yearly, and 2024 has already proven how critical they are to the sector’s advancement. This historically male-dominated field needs new perspectives and a more diverse workforce to maintain momentum and embrace innovation. Learn about the women who may inspire you in your construction career and their contributions to techniques, software and tools in the industry.
1. Arizona State University’s Advancing Women in Construction Club
Monica Perrin is an assistant professor specializing in construction management at ASU alongside junior civil engineer, Abby Noel. These are several participating in the Advancing Women in Construction Club, a community to empower young women.
They have taken surveys to identify the trepidations of the women about to enter the workforce, which is crucial for designing confident leaders. A lack of confidence and support is one of the most prominent barriers preventing women from entering the sector.
Why is this club an advancement? It is a start to normalize these types of gatherings in higher education while giving students the chance to also have construction mentors including men and women. Additionally, the club is collaborating with the National Advancing Women in Construction Chapter, giving young women more universal connections, opportunities and empowerment.
2. Misha Homara
Homara is the CEO of Tricore Panels, a family business in the Bay Area. She is the youngest CEO the company has ever had at 26. Her role in the industry is an advancement because she leads with a different perspective, attempting to phase out the aggression embedded in construction workplace culture. Her team encountered a levelheaded authority figure, perhaps for the first time in their career.
Along with her participation with the National Association for Women in Construction, 30% of her 50-person staff is women. However, Homara has publicized aims to increase this to 50 by 2029. She began spreading education about how construction is a viable career for women, giving panels on CNC machining and AutoCAD. She wants to edit people’s perception of the construction sector as a dirty field, primarily for the people most apprehensive.
3. Carley Hill
Hill founded CAHill TECH, which leveraged a revolutionary tool for making construction education accessible to all genders and other minority populations. In 2024, she invested $1.1 million with a mix of grants and matching funds in aQuiRe Construction Academy to get people in beginner construction jobs with starting salaries of around $45,000.
The program spans two months and provides necessary, foundational education that considers flexibility with its hybrid setup. The focus of this project was to design a training environment that melds with the schedules, obligations and budgets of real-life people. The program’s structure is laden with benefits, such as free child care and therapy, which make committing to the term easier to justify. This increases the state’s talent pipeline in an era where construction worker shortages are still pervasive.
Additionally, it is backed by a collaboration with the New York Department of Transportation, which makes the lessons region-specific so the graduates will have curated knowledge about the location in which they will be working. This makes onboarding and the difficult first months of assimilating into the field smoother.
4. Equity Advancement Program in Bloomington, Illinois
The Bloomington Equity Advancement Program (BEAP) is a local initiative focusing specifically on construction workforce equity. It kicked off at the end of 2023, setting a precedent to provide more subcontracting opportunities for women- and minority-owned businesses valued over $50,000. This initiative gives women hands-on experience on city projects they would have otherwise never interacted with.
While these programs have a long way to go nationwide, the effort is monumental. BEAP is notable because it invites more discourse and participation from local women who previously thought they had no say in city matters.
5. Kelly Viet
Viet is another CEO changing a company by being the first female in that seat. Her organization specializes in the waste management side of construction. As a leader, her innovations will spark a new path for the old company — one that heads toward a circular economy.
Viet’s objective is to make it more common to collaborate with demolition and earthworks services to remove outsourcing, which has been a growing priority of the company for years. However, she is engaging in new market research and talking to Fortune 500 developers to ensure she runs a company people know has a significant competitive advantage.
She intends to amplify these verticals in their company while finding more ways to maintain retention for women in the construction industry. This step is crucial as Viet’s plans coincide with massive acquisitions and expansion.
6. Julie Laughton
Laughton is the CEO of Julie Laughton Design Build. At the end of 2023, she was appointed by the United Nations as an ambassador for affordable housing. Her company remains the largest female-owned design-build company in the nation and the only firm also founded by women. Her contributions to her business have shifted how women work in construction, but her participation with the UN will make even more waves.
Related Content: Design-Build vs Design-Bid-Build: 3 Reasons to Simplify Your Construction Process
7. Sara Feuling
One thing is crucial to all people in construction — safety. Around 27% of workers believe a lack of managerial insight is the reason incidents happen to operators. Feuling recounts an experience of being handed a too-large safety vest on her first day at a construction job. This revealed how much the sector still needed to do when considering how PPE looks for women compared to men.
Her recent talks support new OSHA rules for more stringent, attentive PPE requirements. It would promote better safety for everyone of all genders and sizes by focusing on fit. Raising awareness of this often-overlooked issue is an advancement that benefits women and the greater good. Feuling’s dedication has landed her the Senior Director position at the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.
8. Elena Crupi
Women can have any job in construction they desire, from electricians to equipment operators. However, advancements must come from all sides of construction, including the financial realm. Crupi works for AmConCorp, where she spearheaded overhauling the company’s project management system. Her ability to perform the transition without disruptions is a marvel, especially for a scaling business.
She discusses the reason for her success is because she had a strong network of women alongside her who became her closest friends. Being transparent about these relationships is vital for women wanting to enter the industry. They should know that despite low visibility, there is no destructive competitiveness to be the best woman in the scene — they can work together.
9. Karoline Lapko
Premier Construction Software has made a name for itself as a notable ERP resource for companies. Lapko strives to bring construction software into a new era with advancements in AI integrations. While construction is a male-dominated sector, artificial intelligence is as well. This makes Premier’s software game-changing from multiple perspectives in the fight for more diversity.
Their AI intends to expedite even the menial tasks with automation, providing more security and room to grow for companies that employ it. Advanced software like this could be a window into Industry 5.0.
Related Content: Artificial Intelligence Future: What Are the Ethical Issues of AI?
10. Kim Gill
Gill is the Executive Director of Women in Plumbing and Piping (WiPP). Her goal in 2024 is to invite organizations to accept one of their sponsorships to make women more visible. They inform prospective partners of their four pillars, which include:
- Mentoring: Providing new women in the construction sector with reliable guidance.
- Networking: Knitting together a community of strong women in the field to promote career advancement and spreading knowledge.
- Education: Giving more learning opportunities to women to encourage self-advocacy and confidence.
- Recognition: Publicizing achievements of women in the construction community.
WiPP’s structure is an innovation as it provides construction companies with a multitude of motivations to increase diversity efforts. Gill’s system has made it enticing and practical for even predominantly male companies to seek her guidance. The sponsorship promises more talent with longer retention rates while establishing companies as thought leaders because of enhanced creativity and problem-solving from female perspectives.
11. Shamaiah Turner
While workplace safety often manifests as PPE, it also includes preventing gender-based violence. Advancements in these realms are what Turner strove to advocate for in recent OSHA-hosted webinars. She noted the frequency and range of unacceptable behaviors women face in construction. This includes stalking, trafficking and coercion, among others.
Turner also wanted to amplify the voices of tradeswomen by discussing her relationship with her union. The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers affirmed their I Got Your Back campaign was successful in disseminating toxic language and behavior standards in construction. Validating the effectiveness of union-led campaigns is essential for women to discuss, so more projects will arise in other chapters across the country.
Concentrations of Women in Construction
The number of women working in construction is still abysmally low. To remedy systemic concerns like the wage gap and other forms of discrimination, even more women must see the value of working in the industry and advocating from the inside. From construction law to software development, there is no shortage of avenues women could take when revolutionizing the field for all demographics.
This is a guest post written by Rose Morrison, managing editor of Renovated.com.