Women thrive in hard work, wither in payment

In+the+beginning+stages+of+a+woodworking+project%2C+senior+Bethany+Plennert+helps+senior+Tayler+Varner+make+measurements+on+parts+of+her+chair%2C+that+is+designed+to+look+like+the+lower+peninsula+of+Michigan+

Sidney Keeler

In the beginning stages of a woodworking project, senior Bethany Plennert helps senior Tayler Varner make measurements on parts of her chair, that is designed to look like the lower peninsula of Michigan

Let’s look at the statistics.

The low number of female construction workers signals much luck for the upcoming years.

Out of the 10 million construction workers, less than 1 million of those workers identify as female in the U.S.

Just over 9 percent of the approximate 50.8 percent of women in the U.S. are construction workers. Out of every 100 labor workers, only one female worker is identified in the U.S.

A female in a male perceived job makes 95.7 percent of what a male worker makes, or 97 cents to every dollar.

This scenario suggests biased reasons a company doesn’t take in a female worker.

A woman working at a construction site doesn’t have everything she needs. For example, women do not have a bathroom on the site. Since the number of women working in construction is so low, the site isn’t required to have one says the Construction Productivity Blog.

By 2020, the construction industry expects to grow 6 percent. Around $50 billion will go into construction with 323,000 predicted jobs being given according to Tradesmen International.

Sidney Gipe
Sophomore Madison Aiken makes measurements on a board for a project, while freshman Joslynn Caskey sands her project down, getting the wood ready for oiling in woodworking. In this CTE state-funded course, students are introduced to basic woodworking skills and safety using hands-on instruction.

The additional predicted jobs will grow up to 2 million by 2021. This improvement could cause construction site requirements to change according to the Constructive Productivity Blog and Engineering News-Record.

For instance, women working in a construction environment say that the equipment does not meet their needs. A simple requirement like gloves that are provided are too big for women’s hands.

A woman going into welding earns an even smaller pay amount than working as a construction worker. The pay gap reduces to 80 cents for every dollar made that a man would make in welding.

Senior Tayler Varner, a woodworking and construction student, started her interest in the field with introducing to technology instructed by a teacher who also offers construction classes. Wesley Perry talked to Varner’s class about his other classes which piqued her interest.

Perry started talking about all the things we could make I was curious to come back,” Varner said. She then became interested in making her own things.

She began to think about coming back to be in one of Mr. Perry’s construction classes.

Now in her last year, she has studied Advanced Woodworking and Woodworking 2.

Perry inspired Varner to take construction as a minor in college or as an elective class.

Since she became so interested in construction, Varner thinks “Going into construction in college won’t be a big hassle.”