Do you ever see any female construction workers? (secretaries, average, alternative)

[Trimac20]

There are women in many formerely male occupations, such as in the military in combat roles, police officers, mechanics, brain surgeons...but I almost never see any female construction workers, or most types of physical labour manual type jobs, except maybe gardening. I understand the reasons for this: construction/labouring jobs are more physical etc, employers still sort of biased, it still being seen as exclusively a male thing, but there are female weightlifters and body builders so obviously some women would be capable, even if I agree it's generally more suited for men. Actually here in Vietnam I saw some women helping to build a house, lifting bricks and stuff...women in general are seen doing a lot more physical type jobs, like lifting heavy loads etc...this has also occured for a long time. In the US or Australia, where women are supposedly the most equal, this is probably extremely rare. Here even lifting a few shopping bags is considered too physically demanding for the average woman, even if she was capable.

Also I've almost never seen any women taxi drivers. I think this might partly be a safety thing, though. Female bus drivers and train drivers are common enough.

[orangebird2020]

I have met a few women carpenters, electricians, and crane operators in the last few years. They are definitely the minority, but there are some women construction workers out there.

[STT Resident]

I've seen several female constructions workers stateside over the years and I worked as a carpenter's assistant for about six months once. I've noticed several "linewomen" here working for the local telephone company, several women on road crews in both the public and private sector, and we certainly have a good proportion of female taxi drivers here.

[PullMyFinger]

I've known a few true female construction workers in my time. One or two were legitimate "workers" who could actually do what their male counterparts do on a daily basis consistently Monday through Friday. Many, and I'm trying to be fair here but let's face it-they are filling a quota. A good friend of mine owns a huge construction company, I don't want to name them but they contract to do jobs like site preparation for a project like the Metrodome or Target Field as far as the earth work. They build freeway on and off ramps and cloverleafs ect.

He get's huge federal dollars for meeting certain quotas in his hires, even if he pays them union 49r pay for sitting in a construction trailer playing cards. Physically, very few can take the grind that men can take on a daily basis. It's just a fact.

My only problem with it is that jobs that the women take now used to be reserved for older men at the end of their careers, those guys are cast aside now.

[chet everett]

I know a handful of women that have the skills to do routine physical demanding "trades" type labor and for the most part the TOTAL mix of long hours / early AM and overnight hours in peak construction season, unpleasant work environment for those of 'alternative lifestyles' and the difficulty of even simple promotions (never heard of a "forewoman"...) makes poor combination.

There is a very prominent Landscape Architecture firm in Chicago that is owned by a woman. She has crews that include an interesting mix of people that can run everything from the road graders and back hoes to the ditching machines needed to create trenches for irrigation pipes on golf courses. Pretty rare, but maybe that is what is needed to get a different sort of mindset...

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by Trimac20

There are women in many formerely male occupations, such as in the military in combat roles, police officers, mechanics, brain surgeons...but I almost never see any female construction workers, or most types of physical labour manual type jobs, except maybe gardening. I understand the reasons for this: construction/labouring jobs are more physical etc, employers still sort of biased, it still being seen as exclusively a male thing, but there are female weightlifters and body builders so obviously some women would be capable, even if I agree it's generally more suited for men. Actually here in Vietnam I saw some women helping to build a house, lifting bricks and stuff...women in general are seen doing a lot more physical type jobs, like lifting heavy loads etc...this has also occured for a long time. In the US or Australia, where women are supposedly the most equal, this is probably extremely rare. Here even lifting a few shopping bags is considered too physically demanding for the average woman, even if she was capable.

Also I've almost never seen any women taxi drivers. I think this might partly be a safety thing, though. Female bus drivers and train drivers are common enough.

Yes, I do, but they are not as common as males, as you pointed out.

Just read an interview with WTC construction workers who were given a Thanksgiving meal on the site. One of those interviewed was a female.

[PullMyFinger]

I want to be clear that I'm not disrespecting women in the workplace. Everyone has their value, everyone can do their part. If a woman has a true passion for doing heavy, physical work and want's to sweat 8 hours a day I think she should have that opportunity. But it's up to her what she does with that opportunity, no one else. I don't think rules should be changed to accomidate people who can't cut it, like when the Fire Dept changed their physical fitness test to accomidate female firefighters. That is just not right and not fair to the women who can actually pass those tests.

[DrEarth]

I worked with a woman who did concrete work. She was about 6' tall, and over 200 pounds covered in what appeared to be prison tattoos.

It is the same thing as men working as secretaries. It's not that common, but every so often it happens.

[Charles]

Are there any affirmative action programs to get women into construction, sanitation workers, bus boys, etc like there are for law, engineering, and business? The percentage of woman trash collectors is unacceptable, why isn't the government doing something about it. It must be discrimination - that's the only possible explanation.

[loose cannon]

Irene Delorenzo paved the way.