INDIANAPOLIS — Every road we drive on and every building we walk in was made possible by a construction worker.
However, construction is a male dominated field, and a workforce shortage is looming.
According to the Indiana Construction Roundtable Foundation, the average age of a construction worker is around 50-years-old.
“If you think about our industry, overall, 11% is female, and 4% of skilled trade is female,” Chris Price, president of the Indiana Construction Roundtable Foundation, said. “If we can just move that number to, say, 25%, we no longer have a workforce shortage.”
One of those 4% of women working in a skilled trade is Emily Mick. She is a foreman and has been working in the industry for 12 years. It’s a career she takes pride in.
“Driving on the weekends to hang out with friends or family, I go by an old job and think, ‘Hey, I did that,’” Mick said. “It’s a sense of pride.”
Mick originally planned on going to college as an art major but was worried solid job prospects weren’t as viable. So, she signed up for trade school and never looked back.
“I am extremely happy that I chose this field,” Mick said. “I feel like it’s a great space to grow. You are consistently learning with all the technology that keeps coming out and different ways of building things. It’s awesome.”
Mick says working in a male dominated field can be intimidating at first but that hard work and dedication to the craft allows things to fall into place.
However, stereotypes surrounding the field is something the Indiana Construction Roundtable Foundation hopes changes. They say it needs to for the industry to continue to grow in the Hoosier state.
“If we can make our job sites and culture welcoming to all people, we will no longer have these challenges,” Price said. “If we don’t the cost is that we won’t be able to grow as a state.”
As for Mick, she hopes young girls interested in the construction industry know they don’t have to give up their femininity to pursue the career.
“If you are in a male dominated field, you can still be girly on the weekends, then come to work and get the job done,” Mick said. “That’s one of my favorite things to say.”
Those in the construction industry hope schools start exposing kids to the field at an earlier age – not just by talking about it but also through site visits and conversations with those working in the field.
The Indiana Construction Roundtable Foundation says 1,100 new workers will be needed in Indiana’s construction industry by 2026.
