February 26, 2001

5:22 AM

This article is rather interesting. I moved to Arizona last year and have noticed and commented on the high amount of female construction workers both here and in New Mexico compared to the amount you see in other states. If Arizona is 1% ahead of the national average, and still needs to hire more to meet requirements, I wonder how many states are far below requirements and just what they're doing about it, if anything. How often do you see a women workers in your state?
posted by crushed (10 comments total)

What "requirements" are you talking about? There were none mentioned in the article.

The only time I've ever heard of minimum requirements for female (or other minority group) participation on construction projects is to qualify for special minority business set-aside programs.
posted by mikewas at 7:18 AM on February 26, 2001

Really? I see one (or two, max) on every road construction crew here in Michigan. They're the ones waving the flags. Never see any actually digging or driving the equipment. I just assumed that that indicated a quota.
posted by rodii at 7:29 AM on February 26, 2001

From the article: There's a reason why the highway course came to be. Federal contractors needed to increase the number of women on job sites or potentially face loss of projects.

Unfortunately, I don't remember how I got to the article but I believe the link that I clicked said something about it being because of affirmitive action laws.

I passed through construction work just a few weeks ago where almost every person at the site was a woman and it wasn't the first time. That's why I found it surprising and interesting that they were trying even harder to get female workers.
posted by crushed at 8:18 AM on February 26, 2001

I see them occasionally here in Oregon. In fact, the other day I saw a woman digging. Actually... she seemed to be the only one digging when I drove by. These jobs are good for women as they tend to have a healthier wage than other similar jobs.
posted by amanda at 8:25 AM on February 26, 2001

Lived in NM and did notice more female construction workers than other places I've been. My impression was that more construction firms there hired family members than not.
posted by methylsalicylate at 8:38 AM on February 26, 2001

There's some detailed information at the Northeast Women In Transportation site. There are affirmative action goals dating back to 1978 for construction workers on Federal projects, and the training program discussed above was funded as part of the TEA-21 Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (which is an omnibus bill covering "equity" in dollar allocation among the states). There's an optional 0.5% budget item that states can use for training. Additionally, there is a welfare-to-work program attached to this somehow.
posted by dhartung at 9:03 AM on February 26, 2001

living in albuquerque (where they've decided to rip up almost every road this year, it seems), i actually haven't seen a female construction worker once now that i think about it. there was a crew working on water lines at the end of my street for 2-3 weeks, and they were all male.
posted by sugarfish at 10:49 AM on February 26, 2001

I was out for a walk recently with my dog and passed a number of women doing construction work. They whistled at me and made obscene gestures. It was humiliating. Why must the pester a guy who wants to be left alone?
posted by Postroad at 11:08 AM on February 26, 2001

I see the same thing here in FL as Rodii does in MI.. a few women on road crews and they are always the ones holding the flags or signs for traffic control. But they always have a great tan!!!
posted by Princess Buttercup at 11:46 AM on February 26, 2001

I was out for a walk recently with my dog and passed a number of women doing construction work. They whistled at me and made obscene gestures. It was humiliating. Why must the pester a guy who wants to be left alone?

Postroad, you're obviously dressing too provocatively. If you had any sense you would realize that women just can't help themselves when confronted such the hot catch of a man you obviously are. Try wearing baggy sweats and not putting on so much makeup. And show less cleavage. You're just asking for it otherwise.
posted by daveadams at 12:33 PM on February 26, 2001