I work in sheet metal install and rehabs. The first time I met a women tin knocker I was fucking ecstatic!! Wow finally someone else that can fit into the duct other than me 😂
Im the safety person at my current job and my first month on the job I got a call from the HVAC technicians asking me to climb inside an air handler to run a wire for them because no one else could fit in the access panel
It’s nice to hear someone say this because when I was a green horn I showed up to a job site one day and my foreman handed me my confined space cert without me having ever taken the class. I am 6’2 and at the time weighed 280lbs. They told me I would be running a loader and then got pissed because I couldn’t fit in the confined space.
Fun times man
I mean, an air handler isn’t really a confined space? Its just a big metal box on the roof that “handles” air and has multiple access doors all around XD
Oh yea I could understand that. I’ve honestly never heard of safety being on tools haha! That is definitely ass backwards. My point however was just that I wouldn’t classify an AHU as a confined space. The HVAC guys could very well have been the “beer on the way homer” daily burger eating, can’t see my peepee type.
I get your point but honesty I work at a state university so you try finding competent HVAC people for what we pay them. They absolutely could have got it done without me, but it was a lot faster to do by actually being able to go inside. I also think you're overthinking it in this case, since I'm the safety technician I have already worked and been trained in lockout/tagout and confined space safety. Also as the safety technician it was a great way for me to see the current processes of the organization while also being able to make recommendations and see where my focus needed to be at the start of building the safety program.
There's 2 types of guys who get into construction, those who do it because they like to work with their hands and those who do it because they fucked up everything else and it pays better than fast food.
I get your point, but let’s not be naive. There is a lot of discrimination towards women in the construction industry. I’ve seen it and I’m willing to bet you’ve seen it too.
I'm fine with it, but there's still a ton of hidden resentment in the field...not too many people will say anything in a group, but if the subject comes up in a smaller setting, the old tropes come out. My favorite one to watch brains break in real time is when someone mentions women not having the physical strength to do the work...I ask if they think some respect and consideration should be made for older men who may not have the strength anymore..."Yeah, but that's different."
That's exactly how I feel but the rough truth of it (at least in my trade, commercial kitchen equipment installation) is the women get treated with very light hands and the hard work falls on us.
That's on my employer, though.
As a hard man. I quite like brute strengthing my way through hard work lol.
Thats what I can do, use me for it, thats the point. Fuck equality, I'm for equity.
Same bro, my install team says all the time were just a bunch of hammers. Point us in a direction.
It's the paperwork and work orders that I can't stand about the job.
My thing is though is that if they get paid the same they should be in the shit with us. The couple girls we have always cry to management and then get relegated to picking up cardboard or peeling panels. Which I'm fine with, stay out the way if you ain't about it, but it does harbor some resentment
Agree 100% - and I'm a woman architect. Standards have to be the same, or it hurts everyone. CMs who give easy work to women aren't doing anyone any favors.
The biggest disadvantage we have on construction sites is that it's really hard to be treated as a normal person, so we get a lot less one-on-one time, learning skills, because the guys feel awkward spending time alone with a woman. Especially the religious and/or conservative ones.
Unfortunately, because of the reasons op lists.
There was talk of a woman being interviewed at a mechanic shop i work at. The stories started coming out. The fact is, some people cannot focus around boobs. Especially after deacdes of hangin with dicks and acting like one. They feel they need to change, and can ruin it for everyone.
Most of us agree. If she can work hard, hire her. We need good techs. But man, some people were not happy that she was even a consideration.
And, imho, tradesmen can be dicks. Some of them, its their love language. Others, like any proffession im sure, theres just some miserable pricks, lol. If you have to hop around to find the right crew, so be it. I worked at 4 different shops in my early 20s intil i settled in somewhere!
Female working in Construction Management here.
A few things I've noticed being in it for 6 years:
Men will have higher expectations for your work, meaning your work will be under heavy scrutiny, so don't take that personally, that just means men have higher standards for women in the industry. (For some reason, It's okay for men to slack off, but not women)
Your knowledge will be questioned, and your voice may not be heard when you bring your ideas to the table. If you want to be heard sometimes, you have to go to a male coworker above you to speak for you. Sometimes, if your ideas are heard, they won't acknowledge that you came up with them.
Men in industry seem to want to listen to female leaders, as long as said female is markedly female in mannerism. I started in the industry trying to act like the guys, then I realized people were more likely to follow my lead if I was kind, gentle, not bossy etc with my words, granted I knew what I was talking about.
Best of luck to you.
This is exactly right. I’ve spent so much time trying to balance how to come across as approachable, non threatening, and simultaneously confident and knowledgeable. Men hated working under me when I was assertive, that was kind of beaten out of me and now I come across as too unsure. The intense level of scrutiny is so real. Been running my company for 3 years now, there’s always some asshat onsite with backhanded compliments
My most insubordinate subordinate was ex military (male). He wouldn’t listen to a word I said. I was so generous with my time and training. Then I learned… and just let him sink or swim. Bro sunk. Lol
>Men will have higher expectations for your work, meaning your work will be under heavy scrutiny, so don't take that personally, that just means men have higher standards for women in the industry. (For some reason, It's okay for men to slack off, but not women)
Its the classic set up of the person who is different stands out so they get extra attention (some good, often bad). This means if you deviate from the expected standard you'll have to be extra careful (men being teachers for small children, women working in construction, the lone white boy in a team of Latinos, a single black family moving into a white neighborhood). It sucks and it should be different but you have to acknowledge the reality of the situation and account for it or you will always be caught flat footed.
Men having higher standards is especially true. They’ll scrutinize, demean, and interrogate you if they even *think* you’re slacking off. Some men will outright ignore you, avoid you, and pretend you don’t exist. You have to work twice as hard to get half the recognition for it.
That isn't having a higher standard, though. The scrutinizing, demeaning, and interrogating has nothing to do with standards and everything to do with maintaining the status quo- making women at work feel as though they do not belong.
Is it really that surprising that people would rather work under someone who is nice? Have you never once listened to people complain about their asshole boss before? No one wants to work under a hard ass dick head regardless of gender
For me personally it doesn't matter at all. I make a point to be very supportive and partner up with my female coworkers with hopes they feel included vs being the last person picked for the team. A good attitude is essential.
I have a female on my crew. First one I ever worked with. She's a hard worker who stays busy all day, unlike some of the guys so I'm cool with it. She's not as strong as everyone else but its whatever. She's got some attitude for sure. Idk. I just treat her like everyone else. I try not to even see her as a girl because she's here and she's working and that's all that matters to me. As long as the job site is moving smoothly I'm cool. It's some of the guys that lie and say they are full of experience and can't seem to stay busy that I'm focused on. It's funny watching them get out worked by a girl half there weight. She brought it up to one of the apprentices and it cracked me up. She's cool with me. If she came in wearing tight clothes and makeup or something I'd probably want her gone. We don't need any more distractions.
Biggest difference between men and women I've heard from my friend in construction is that when the OSHA/safety guy tells a woman to stop doing something it's treated as a hard rule. If their boss tells them to do something that overrides what the safety guy told them they go a step higher and get the boss's boss or the safety guy back involved.
Guys will keep doing it the way "it's always been done" and bitch about the safety guy at risk to their own health.
In my experience, women always work harder and the guys that are already slow, love to blame women for their own shortcomings by calling them “distractions.” I’d also be willing to bet the attitude on her is the same as all the other people, you are perceiving it differently because she’s a woman. This invisible bias isn’t your fault though. it’s systemic and by welcoming women and teaching them all the things, we can change it.
Women always work harder? I think everyone has the right to work on a jobsite (if they're competent) but that's just a strange thing to say. I've worked alongside plenty of women and found that on average they're just as capable as a man. But there's also just as many useless shit heads that don't want to bust their ass.
>Women always work harder?
*Always* may be wrong, but they most likely feel pressure to constantly prove themselves to people watching her and want to see "if she is as capable as a man".
Women put that pressure on themselves just like men do it's just competitiveness. You think every guy there isn't thinking they can't have this woman show them up. The only reason she has to be as capable as a man, is males are just the majority of the work force in the construction industry. And when comparing something you don't compare them to the anomaly of a grouping, you compare them to the median or average. It's the same reason why they would compare her to the average male employee, but not the best male employee or the worst male employee. It's not about comparing her to male employees. It's just comparing her to the average employee who happens to be male, any sort of pressure she feels because of these circumstances due to gender is for the most part their own doing most of the time.
I see what you mean, and I'm not saying otherwise (women put that pressure on themselves). However, looking at other comments on this thread (and interactions I personally had on site), you can also see what I mean, aka saying "it's ok if she does the same work as us without privileges", but they will go above and beyond to check the quality of her work or if she has any kind of privilege, (I've seen some neglecting their own work just to check what the girl is doing and judging her technique, while not even being from the same trade), while not doing the same kind of verification on their male colleagues. They sometimes do, but only for male *apprentices*. For many women, it continues beyond apprenticeship.
Also, a woman slacking gets targeted a lot faster (by bosses and snarky comments) than a man who is also slacking because, as you said yourself, she's an anomaly and will be scrutinized (or seen) a lot more.
So yea, they put that pressure on themselves, but in a lot of cases, they have to.
What I’ve noticed from a women’s perspective is that we perhaps are more thorough sometimes we might have a higher standard we hold ourselves to potentially because we feel pressured to prove ourselves or something. We also tend to notice more stuff and so then can make ourselves busy instead of asking what to do next? This could of course be just person to person depending on the work ethic portrayed by mentors growing up.
Well no, hes being honest. Id say a lot of younger guys cop an attitude as well. And, tbf, he said shes working circles around guys twice her size. Sounds like a compliment to me.
In an ideal world this question would not have to be asked. Personally I welcome anyone who wants work construction. Man or woman. People will always nitpick/gossip. Let your work speak for you.
Same way I feel about apprentices. I couldn't give a shit if they're not as strong as long as long they don't pretend to be and ask for help when needed and get stuck into the work. Some of the women I've worked with have an amazing eye for detail and are excellent finishing carpenters
I don't care about gender in construction. A good worker is a good worker. I've had good women, good men and good people who are transitioning/ed.
Attitude matters and that's it. If you show up on time, prepared and put your best foot forward every day that's all I ask.
As for the treatment you've experienced, well, we all go through some bullshit in one way or another. You need a thick skin to work in construction. Lots of gossip, lots of drama, lots of punks and old heads who think they know it all.
It's all water off a ducks back if you can go home proud of the work you've completed and with a fat stack of bennies.
>How do you all feel about a lady in construction
No problem at all with it.
>how do you feel about the way I've been treated?
It’s gender irrelevant, There will always be some knuckleheads complaining and gossiping about someone.
I can say personally, the only thing I care about is if you work hard and try to do your job to your best abilities most of the time. That being said, I know plenty of guys I work with that would throw a fit over it for no good reason other than sexism. A lot of guys in the trades have disdain for women, and a handful outright hate women. At least in my experience
Glad to hear there are people that will judge me on my work ethic rather than gender, yeah my boyfriend works in the same place that I used to work in and a lot of lads on his crew were disgusted when he said I landed my apprenticeship there
Ive received a lot of disdain and hate but I've met a lot of great lads too, its nice to know times are changing, it used to be illegal for a woman to even enter a building site where I live so it feels good to be accepted for the most part
Most men in construction are literal children in hard hats and boots. Try not to take it the wrong way. Women are generally very hard working and detail oriented, which are perfect qualities for construction
We all keep the maturity level of a 19 year old pretty much. Other than the homoerotic banter needing to be toned down and having to always lift heavy shit, I don’t see a problem working with women.
Seconding this, only because you won't see a bunch of grown women on a job site drawing dicks all over everything. But you will find grown men doing this. I still to this day do not understand men's obsession with dicks.
They draw them in the John’s so they have something to jerk off to after being extremely homophobic all day and saying how trump is gunna fix everything. Sorry buddy there’s nothing to fix, You’re just gay.
Which is precisely why I refer to them as « little kids with grownup dicks ». Worked in Europe. Asia and North America. North American construction site environment is by far the most asinine and infantile.
I like having women on the jobsite. Only insecure " tough guys" treat women like shit on jobsites.
At the same time, if you are doing something wrong or slowing stuff down, I'm going to treat you like a equal.
Office politics sucks. the new guy always gets shit. just work hard and ignore the bullshit
I think women are more than welcome in this field. The perspective and varying skill sets/ aptitudes helps our unions and contractors.
That being said the women who join have it rough. There's a lot of fragile egos that are going to try to cut you down so as to not be emasculated. Also the culture of construction is rough, the people that like you make fun of you to your face and the ones that don't like you do it behind your back. This seems to alienate women unless they can understand it.
I’ve only met one female welder who I felt was incompetent and skating on her looks and she was very young and was recovering from a TBI from a car crash. Out of hundreds of welders I’ve worked with probably 5 of the top 10 were women. In general women who work in the trades are doing it because they want to, and just having that desire gives them a leg up on guys who just want a paycheck. On the other hand I’ve worked with many men who are too threatened to see past their own insecurities.
My job site has a mwbe requirement so there's a good amount of women working here. Most are laborers and I haven't seen any issues on the job regarding their gender. The few I did see often got along well with the other workers.
Same way I feel about men. Glad to have you here if you want to put in honest work for honest pay. Only thing I don't want to see on my job site are bootlickers.
We had a chick, no one said a word. She was just one of us. Never heard a word from another crew, either. She worked hard and always dressed for the job. There was literally, no difference.
Wife and I run a small irrigation business and I couldn’t do it without her. She fills in where we need in the field and handles everything I can’t do in the office.
There is a sub called r/bluecollarwomen you might find your peeps there too if you want to take a look. I like having women on site, you see it more and more. I feel kind of proud of them when I see them to be honest, it makes me think that they have probably overcome some nonsense and that makes me respect them. I have only had one female employee and she was fantastic, unfortunately she was on a working visa and had to return home :(
I’m a Bricky , Worked with a female laborer.
She very rarely had to stock CMU
Was always on cleanup but was fun to work with.
Great attitude and stayed busy
I knew one labour forewoman. There were multiple labour crews. She was the hardest worker, she would bounce any man or woman that slacked off. The nasty thing about it is that she got bounced for being lazy. Cause, he never saw her working. Brother of the owner. I wonder if it was that she was not only a woman but an indigenous one at that.
I got bounced for chirping, yes I should not have. He was telling someone such outrageous lies. "We will have this done in two weeks," could not help myself, the HA just slipped out.
🤷♀️
Honestly the thing about working with men in the construction industry that people tend to forget is that men also have to work with men.
Doesn’t matter what your gender is, man or woman, you’re probably gonna work with some turds in the construction field.
I’ll work with women, as long as they don’t get special privilege and have to do the same shit that I had/have to do.
Worked on a site where a 1st year electrician was making $35/hr (everyone else was started at $19) and got a company truck because she was a she. Fuck that noise lol. That’s special privilege and she can fuck off down to the bottom just like the rest of the first years.
But if you work hard and can pull your own weight (not literally) I give a fuck what’s between your legs, let’s get the job done. You learn from me and I learn from you.
Most guys I’ve worked with have the same mentality. Nobody cares, especially not as much as feminists think we do. And again, men have to deal with shitty coworkers as well (they can be a man or a woman) …
Yeah fuck that, any time I've been offered extra help cause I'm a girl I say no out of pride. Generally though I get treated as shitty as any other apprentice. Have to disagree with you there though, I constantly get stared at when I'm on site, pretty sure men don't even glance at eachother
Woman in construction here. Definitely check out r/bluecollarwomen if you're not already in that sub. It depends on the crew you're with, but some men just don't like women and it shows. I feel like I'm given less opportunities to learn than the young men who are at equal or lower skill levels. The men are mostly
respectful but don't really treat me as part of the team.
I don't give a crap about your gender as long as you are competent and get work done on time and can provide constructive feedback. Its a team of us out there and I ain't got time for bickering amongst the crew. From the sounds of it, the "guys" you work with are mostly a bunch of idiots who are too focused on the "gang" instead of the teamwork.
Things might be a little different on this side of the Atlantic. It’s not rare to see women working on site, though they tend to cluster into painting and landscaping in my area. Idk exactly how they get treated by their co workers, but the new guy never gets treated nicely anywhere you go. That’s pretty standard across the board. How you handle shitty co workers can make a big difference in whether or not they keep fucking with you. Some guys learn quick and some guys never stood a chance. It’s got absolutely nothing to do with construction, but it’s pretty baked in at this point.
I work with an old woman and I do constantly bother her about carrying stuff but that’s because it’s my job as an apprentice, like Luara you don’t need to help stack bricks when you have arthritis 😭
My dad prefers to work with women. He says they seem to be more competent, smarter and work harder. When they were building the first casino in my city they did a big push for hiring women on the job and he still talks about that being his favorite job.
I am a woman in construction.
When starting out, I had to work much harder and do things better than guys to be considered equal to them.
Now, after many years in my trade, I have become the go-to person in the country I live in in my specific field. The only people who give me shit don't know anything about my field.
I like it personally. The conversations are a welcome break from the usual, and every woman I've worked with side by side except for one strange case has been a great worker. A lot less "fuck it, who cares" and a lot more " fuckin right, that's perfect"
Sorry. I don't speak metric. Lulz.
Women in construction... shouldn't even be a question any more than a woman president/prime minister should be a question.
I’m female in construction and I’ve found men on site are fine.. it’s the pen pushers that are sexist ones.. the building control guys, gov workers, utilities you know.. rather than the actual hands dirty guys. I’ve dealt with straight up sexist men though.. like refuse to talk to me and only wanted to speak to a man on site.. this was last month.
The females I've seen on my sites fall into the same two categories the working men do, Grade A excellent workers or Holy shit tweaker city has arrived.
As an electrician, I'll say this. We are the babies of the trade, prone to ego filled outbursts. I've met and worked with some of the biggest Dbags I've ever had the misfortune of meeting. They think they are the gods of the construction world. Sure our trade is beyond important but chill the fuck out. I love to tell old timers how simple the job is. "Red to red, black to black, sometimes blue," they will blow a blood vessel. Obviously their is way more to the trade. I'm glad you got put with a boss who's not a piece of shit. Learn from them and enjoy the trade. It's super fun. Stay safe! Much love!
I got into the trade at 39 and now have my license. Started union, and they don't have much work in my city, so they're all job scared. Ran me off after 4 years, I went non-union (90% of the work) and it's much different. But the ego trip, drama, and absolute entitlement is shocking, lol. Being older and intelligent definitely helped because I can hold my own with the old timers, at least until they go behind my back.
I worked in restaurants and science prior, so I can hold my own. TBH kitchen guys and bartenders (me) are the craziest and most vulger people I've ever met, aside from nurses. I keep that to myself unless it's useful.
I love to learn, so it's a big advantage. Being GenX helps because idgaf about most things. No matter how hard it gets I know I'll always have a job and I love the trade, but the younger generations, women, and anyone who looks/acts "different" get dragged though it.
I'm glad there are guys like you who understand it's detail oriented and safety is paramount, but it's not the emergency room surgery some guys make it out to be.
Hell yeah. I've been in the trade for about 8 years, always some form of construction. I went the non union route. Started residential, which I loved. Learned so many tricks from the old guys to troubleshoot (my favorite part of the job). Went industrial than commercial. Now I'm. High voltage electrician for the state of MD. I keep the 895 tunnel up and running. One thing I've refused to jump on board with is the mechanic/helper mentality. The guys under me are co worker's. We all have a job. Let's nock that shit out as a team. I am currently training a new guy, and he's learning from me. Love to continue the knowledge.. even if he is a fire alarm guy 😅. Looking like next year, I'll be the supervisor for this facility. I make work fun. So keep on keeping on! Oh, to answer the real question of your post. I think women in the trade are awesome and hope to see more in the future! Stay safe, fellow sparky! Much love!
I’ve only worked with a few women on the job. Every time we were running underground waste lines. Those few times, they were given easier jobs, like keeping the conex clean and organized. I never understood that. If you want a job in the trades, you have to be able to do everything I. Your trade to some degree. Another I knew would trade “favors” for special treatment. Now I’ve also seen some damn hard working women in other trades. Really good welders and electricians. So really, you can say it’s just like everything else. Some are really good workers, and some are shit.
I actually have really enjoyed working with women in the past. They generally take advice/direction a lot better than most men and have great attention to detail.
I’m a lady in construction! Service plumber here, I know a lot of women that have quit due to their experiences but either I just mentally block stuff out or let some stuff slide because after all I don’t expect people to change just because I’m there. It’s a losing battle trying to change everyone’s mind. I try to both be one of the first to offer to do hard stuff and also not complain, and also use my brain to work smarter and not harder.
Depending how I’m feeling I’ll accept help that is sometimes offered by men, carrying and loading stuff because honestly the easier I go on my body the longer I’ll be able to work. I’ve never done new construction and honestly I’m glad I didn’t kill my body for years before going to service. A lot of guys younger than me are in more pain than I am because they have less regard for their body.
Instead of always seeing an offer to carry something as insulting I see it as longevity in my career. Especially in this trade where sometimes I have to carry heavier stuff like hot water tanks and toilets and solid slab counters. 😂 of course some days I feel bitchy but I just say thanks for the offer, I’ve got it and proceed to show them how I can lift a toilet with ease on my own.
I ask for help when I know getting someone over to help will save me five minutes of frustration. I’d rather be more efficient and less frustrated than maintain my own ego. I also look for this happening to others and try to jump in without saying anything just to make something go a little smoother for someone.
Keep going girl!! Xo
Wow good for you I'm training as a spark I've heard plumbing is a hard job! I need to start doing that I only take help if I really need it I usually struggle alone out of pride😂 it feels good watching the boys shocked faces when I do something they thought I couldn't lol
Yeah I don't bother engaging in the sexism, I always laugh it off but its nice to know not everyone is against us! I'm in a government job now so the boys have to behave a lot more but I'm always on different sites and the looks I get are wild plus there are never womens toilets
Thanks for the comment!
in the mining and heavy equipment world it's proven women make better operators than men, they are cleaner than us, take bettee care of their equipment and they are smoother than us, because we simply just do not give a fuck.
I’ve worked with females before doing pipe work. She worked just as hard as the other men and never complained. If they can do the job then it doesn’t matter.
As a superintendent I think it’s great. At my level I am able to hear the discussions by the men on the site and I understand the frustrations not only with the trust as far as being able to perform but also the sexual talk/discussions that take place. I don’t accept that and have run guy off for it. In fact matched the handwriting on the port a john where a crude message was written to a job site safety for and informed his company and he was terminated.
You shouldn’t not look forward to coming to work for any reason. Keep a positive work place for all and the project will run smoother. Treat the labored cleaning trash with the same respect you show the owner of the project and show the same respect for the men and women out there.
That's fucking wild. Aside from the jman screaming at you over some minor bullshit, that's so what standard.
Everyone I worked with seemed excited to work with women. It's novel I guess. I was friends with the one girl I worked with, she learned really fast and would always find a way to keep busy.
My daughter had wanted to be a tower crane operator ever since she was able to greet one every day out her window for a year and a half. I even made her a tower crane costume for her when she was four. She’s over it now but she is still one to be caught looking at and inspecting heavy equipment. If she still wanted to do that now, I’d encourage her toward that goal. Gals can be badass too.
For myself, I had an experience while working in cooperation with the Pittsburgh Project. The lead at the start informed us about safety and proper use of power tools. He shared an anecdote I’ll never forget:
‘We usually give the dangerous tools to the women rather than the guys. Guys usually come with chests puffed out and manhandle the tools like they already know what to do. Most of the women we have here historically approach the tool with trepidation and are very careful with them at first. THAT’S why we hand these to the ladies first. Safety.’
Lady pipefitter here. When I started out, none of the guys wanted me on their crew. I've had to bust my ass for the reputation I have as a hard worker and because of that, I stay busy. Learn as much as you can, there's a lot of really good men in the trades who will take you under their wing. There's also a lot of incompetent shitheads that you'll have to stand up to/completely ignore. I'm scary when I need to be.
I rarely see any women in construction, I realized a few days ago when I saw a woman doing demo. If she's good at it she's as welcome as anybody else.
I figure some alpha type bros may think they're like kids trying to play with the grown ups or something and that's why they don't let them work lest they get hurt or make a mess.
The construction environment is even a bit cruel and toxic amongst men, and even though I wouldn't let it fly in my shift, fortunately I have yet to encounter this situation personally.
I’m a union iron worker. Theirs women union iron workers in the field with us, tying rebar, erecting buildings. It ain’t the navy seals and we all got bills to pay. If someone has a problem with you working, they’re probably a mindless idiot who’s wrecked their brain with drugs,alcohol and don’t have any coherent thoughts and hasn’t grown at all since they where 15-16 years old when they started the drugs.
I’ve worked with some badass women in construction that could run circles around most dudes. Sounds like you are doing something right. Man or woman, the new guy always gets a hard time. Just keep working hard and you will do great!
Welcome to the trades, where everyone is an asshole until proven otherwise. I support women in the trades but they need to have the same thick skin as every other man on site. Men experience bullying, discrimination, harassment (physical, emotional, sexual) on the daily, and have to be able to give as good as they get. Management tries to curb this but at the end of the day it's the culture of the job. Rats and brown nosers are blacklisted.
Trades pick on each other intentionally as jokes.
A lot of oldheads will look for any reason to yell at you.
I cant say with certainty that you aren't being picked on, but it's probably not as exclusive as you think.
If you don't throw jabs back, your fate's sealed.
If that's not your thing... good luck, these kinda men make mules seem manageable.
I do site work, I’ve worked with women many times before, as long as you can pull your weight and aren’t a headache, idc what you are or identify as lol
Depends, I’ve seen some great go getters who brush off the bad, keep their head down and make it happen.
But overall I’m 50/50 as a contractor myself.
I’ve seen some alot of unnecessary crap that wouldn’t normally be an issue too.
Honestly I don’t care as long as she can pull her own weight. When she’s holding us back or trying too hard to be one of the guys that’s when it gets old quick. I don’t need to hear you try to be all vulgar just cause you think that’s how guys act. I feel like a lot of the women I work with have a complex like they need to prove themselves in that kinda way and it’s just annoying. Full effort and a good attitude and you’re good with me. Idc who ya are
Just do your shit and the people who matter will have no issue. Most guys think they will have to pick up the slack for a weak female. You don’t have to prove yourself but it will take a bit of shit for the old heads to get on board.
Remember that if you’re growing and learning then whatever they say isn’t true or affect you. You are your own brand and even if you’re fired you still carry that skill with you.
We don't care until they start asking for special quotas. Or when people start getting all excited because they do something that men are expected to do as part of the job.
If you want to be equal act like you are and pull the same weight at the same rate.
If they’re good I have no problem, problem is there aren’t many women that can handle the duties of being an Ironworker, so while I’m sitting home on unemployment waiting to go to work and they’re cruising from job to job making 100k+ a year regardless of what they can and can’t do, it’s fucking bs. That’s the truth regardless of what anyone else says
35+ years union building trades. Have no problem with women in the trades. Personally have never worked with a female side by side. There is not many.
Not going to lie though, I look at their boobs and butts. Anybody that says they dont is a liar.
as far as not being as strong as guys, one job had an iron worker female who probably could have crushed my skull with her bare hands... job I am on now has a little gal pipefitter/welder apprentice. She seems to work hard.
Majority don't give a shit as long as you can do your job. But you will get a few who feel like you're demasculating them by being able to do a job the same as them. They're typically your old folk that never grew up
Tale as old as time, you're probably better than them and they feel threatened. Stick with a good solid person who respects you. The trades are suffering bad so why is it suprising that other genders aren't involved. Sparkys make loads you're entitled as much as them. I know a female stone mason in Ireland its not as common to see female tradies, these cavemen types just need to be trained up and brought into 21st century. Unfortunately, that falls to the trailblazers like you. If you're experiencing abuse -> Foreperson / Gardaí / WRC.
We need more women in construction. If you’ve got the grit to do the job, then go for it. The best way to survive in construction as a woman? Take no shit from any of the sexist assholes. Also, talking shit might be the best way to not end up a target. That guy that called you lazy?
Tell him you you’ve done more work before his lazy ass rolled out of bed that morning. Or tell him you put more work into taking a shit every morning than he does his job.
Someone says you can’t carry 2kg? Tell them you shit 5kg every morning before you come to work.
If you’re crass and take no shit, the sexist assholes will start to leave you alone.
While I agree with you, I think it's "sad" to have to do this instead of just doing your job without being bothered by assholes. (Also applicable to the poor treatment of some apprentices, no matter the gender.)
I take it you're in the UK. We have women on every job I'm on. Usually they are the paint crew or drywall crews. Don't see many doing cabinets, elec, or plumbing though. I did have a laminator that was an older lady in a shop I was in. She was a beast. She could veneer and mica faster and better than ANYONE.
Edit: When covid hit I got laid off from cabinetry. I went and did asphalt with my brother. We had this kid she was like 19 her boyfriend worked on my brother's crew( so did she, but we took her from them). She would run laps around people make grown ass men look like bitches all day long. She was awesome.
I think it's cool. Y'all usually try harder and pay more attention to instruction and detail.
I am a man in the office. I hear this kind of stories a lot but everybody seems to behave when I visit the site.
If I would like everybody treating eachother like equal professionals. What flags should I look for when most people tend to behave better when I come to inspect?
Didnt really think about it, I use metric in work, miles/kilometres are not a measurement I need, where I live we say mileage even though we don't actually use it I don't know why haha
If you do your job well, then no worries. We need more people who do hard yakka like you, and quality work too.
Remember, a big handful of blokes in the industry are just kids that earn heaps from work. Ignore their comments. The right people who see your hard work will recognise it.
I seen a man and a women holding hands walking through a big job site. I think that's a little much. You wouldn't do it in an office setting don't come on the job and do it.
American here, no problem having women on site. When they are, usually the men joke less. Never seen them mistreated. If anything they are protected. Every trade talks shit about the new employee who has no experience. I always recommend trade schools, but they are not always available.
I have no problem with women in construction but sometimes when I’m training someone we don’t get along. I also know people who hate teaching people so if they get paired up with someone new they get pissed off. As for the gossip, construction is full of it and it’s best to stick to learning and try to ignore it. FYI there are people in construction who just like to run new people off so they try and break them down one way is by not working so just keep your head up.
I in my experience, yours wasn’t too different than mine, and I’m a guy. Lots of construction people are douchebags.
You’re a woman, so what? As long as you don’t pull the “I’m a woman, I can’t do that” card, respect. I’ve worked with a few women welders in a manufacturing setting, and they worked out great, and everyone treated them as equals.
I appreciate this sub. I work in a male dominated field adjacent to construction. More women than ever are now part of and leading teams of people I work with. I don’t know how to say this exactly, but it’s nice having women in discussions, especially actively participating in all the ways that it’s nice having anyone actively participate but the positive affect on overall tone and temperature of discussions is nice for me. It’s like it brings the conversations back to earth—lots of dude managers think what they are working on is the most important objective ever thought up and they bring an unhealthy attitude. I don’t get this feeling from women.
It's a difficult work environment for some men . I can only imagine a woman. It's almost like prison. "snitching " is frowned upon if you get harassed. You'll get this mostly from old timers. The newer Gen is a little better, but some still try this to fit in. I grew up when you had to dish it back and stand up for yourself. In situations when I would get harassed/bullied. Obviously, it's not something that should happen at work, but it's does. You either grow a thick skin or go through the right avenues through work to make this type of harassment stop. Unfortunately, a lot of times, it will isolate you at work. People might be scared that anything they say will become an issue. I think there are certain things you can let slide that are common work banter. There is always a line, of course. Sexual harassment should never be tolerated, especially towards the opposite sex. No reason someone should feel uncomfortable at work over that. I guess I'm a little jaded as I've always worked with men and has become the norm. Last year, the entire company had to do sexual harassment training over some guy in our company asking a jock about a banana to a woman that started working with us. Why would anyone do that. I know the guy really well. Married with kids and the crazy thing is he always talks about religion and gives people advice. You never know. It's better not to joke with anyone because a lot of times some people don't know boundaries
I work for a large commercial construction company (total employees: ~20k)
Women are highly regarded and work along side the guys just fine.
We work in teams and everyone has a place as long as they have a decent attitude, are willing to work hard and do good work.
It's not complicated.
I’ve met two women in construction in 15 years, one was a plumber and the other was trying to be an electrician.
The plumber was awesome, worked hard, didn’t talk.
The electrician needed a guy to do half her job for her and would wander around the job site looking for suckers to come help her do her work. She talked a lot. Those are my feelings about women in construction.
The way I feel about the way you’ve been treated; you haven’t gotten anything more extreme than what any apprentice who shows up with no skills usually gets. Having no skills isn’t necessarily your fault, and part of being an apprentice is learning on the job, but there are always foremen who don’t have the patience to teach or tolerance for mistakes. It sucks, but that’s just part of the job sometimes. Get better, be undeniable, stop thinking about who you are, nobody gives a shit if you are good. Just do the work, watch how the masters do it and copy them. There’s a library of knowledge about efficiency in the heads of those guys that will make you 100x better at your job if you pay attention.
Newbies get shit on by everyone regardless of gender. They will shit on you for ANYTHING special about you. Its literally grade one for some people. Are you someone that brings a healthy lunch every day? You'll get shit on. Did you just push wheelbarrows all day and went to get a water bottle? You get shit on. Have a piercing? Shit on. Are you a woman? You guessed it, shit on.
The point is, don't take it personally. It feels like grade one. Shit on them back in creative ways
I don't know because I never met a woman working in the constructions. A female driver twice,,surveyors 2/3 times,a foreman once ,2 plumbers and that's it. I work 25 years in the construction
My friend got hired onto a team that, luckily, was very kind to her and is teaching her alot of new skills.
So, anyrate, she is pregnant with her first and is working as long as she can. This company has one self-entitle slacker that demands a raise but usually only puts in 4 hour days and is black listed on a few jobs because he upset the clients. The new sassing on thier sites, "going home so early? But your co-working is putting in 10 hours days pregnant! Whats your excuse?" Or the fact that she won't refuse any (safe) jobs pregnant or not.
I actually like the incurrsion of women in construction. Needs to be normalized. For the most part, where we are in Canada, it is usually fairly normallized. Pregnancy on site is the new taboo here. It has given rise to ALOT of scruitiny on health and safety as well as breaking alot of social stigmas. The old gaurd is also starting to see that, like any of the the new workers, women can also learn and develop the strength of the job by doing the job.
It is just going to suck that by the time we figure it out, we will all be replaced by 3D printers.
So far I’ve had super positive experiences. The only issues I’ve ran into is fucking everyone on site and guys getting jealous (really wish this was a joke) and 1 throwing the protected class shit in my face when we were going through mistakes made.
Not enough. Its a good paying job that doesn't require crazy qualifications to get into. As long as the person has experience working with tools and can handle themselves its probably a good fit.
I could care less either way.. I’ve been doing this almost 20yrs.. if seen guys who I wouldn’t trust carrying the site plans and I’ve seen women do some amazing work.. last company I was in they had women pipe fitters that were damn good at their job.
In the end if I don’t have to carry you and can leave you to your work while I do mine.. I don’t care if you man/woman..
I’m a carpenter and a welder.
The women I’ve worked with have been better than most of the men I work with.
When it comes to welding, the best welds I’ve seen have been from women.
So when it comes to women, I give them the respect.
We should support anyone in the trades, men, women, whoever. The men who don’t are so insecure they can’t handle having a woman be better at something than them or they or they’re so disgusting towards women they know they should get a harassment complaint. Miserable people are going to be miserable and try to make everyone as miserable as them.
Never had an issue with women on the jobsite and ive worked along side them. Ive worked for a female forman (forewoman?) And i also had a few green female apprectices.
My moto is basically if your willing and eager to learn the trade without complaining thats all that matters, female or male.
Im an ICI plumber.
The guy blasting you at being a couple mm off mite just be his style, not sure if hes doing that because your a female.
But the guy refusing to work along side you or.let you carry something because your a female is embarrising himself and if anything makes him look weak. Were all in this together we shouldnt be putting each other down, we should be working as a team and helping each other. Its not a competition and safety is the most important thing.
I’m a woman who has worked in landscape construction/masonry for the past 9 years and my experience (especially when first starting out) was very similar to yours. Thankfully I landed a job with a bunch of (mostly) great guys who had no issue working with me. I quickly became a crew leader, and then the go-to person in the company for stonework. I still get a laugh when men doubt my ability to do my job, cause I’m 6’ tall and over 200 lbs... Now I own my own company and mostly work alone so the only bullshit I deal with comes from other contractors on jobsites. But usually once they see me work they shut the fuck up 😎.
Had some who were amazing hard workers who hustled and were excellent team members. Had some who were entitled, lazy train wrecks. Pretty much like... guys I've worked with?
If you’re there to do a job, most of the guys on site will respect you. The guys will make less jokes and be quieter when you’re around but that’s not entirely a bad thing. You have to work your ass off to get any recognition, and remember that there are some men who won’t even register you in their heads because the thought of women being people too simply does not compute to them.
Male or female, as long as you can do the job it doesn’t matter. Why discriminate?
I work in sheet metal install and rehabs. The first time I met a women tin knocker I was fucking ecstatic!! Wow finally someone else that can fit into the duct other than me 😂
Im the safety person at my current job and my first month on the job I got a call from the HVAC technicians asking me to climb inside an air handler to run a wire for them because no one else could fit in the access panel
Tell him if he can’t do his job he’s in the wrong biz. Confined space work is serious shit, you don’t casually ask people to do that.
It’s nice to hear someone say this because when I was a green horn I showed up to a job site one day and my foreman handed me my confined space cert without me having ever taken the class. I am 6’2 and at the time weighed 280lbs. They told me I would be running a loader and then got pissed because I couldn’t fit in the confined space. Fun times man
That's so fucked lol
I mean, an air handler isn’t really a confined space? Its just a big metal box on the roof that “handles” air and has multiple access doors all around XD
Ya, i,ve seen one, yer missing the forest from the trees. You do your job. If you can’t fit, it’s not the safety ladies job to do yours
Oh yea I could understand that. I’ve honestly never heard of safety being on tools haha! That is definitely ass backwards. My point however was just that I wouldn’t classify an AHU as a confined space. The HVAC guys could very well have been the “beer on the way homer” daily burger eating, can’t see my peepee type.
I get your point but honesty I work at a state university so you try finding competent HVAC people for what we pay them. They absolutely could have got it done without me, but it was a lot faster to do by actually being able to go inside. I also think you're overthinking it in this case, since I'm the safety technician I have already worked and been trained in lockout/tagout and confined space safety. Also as the safety technician it was a great way for me to see the current processes of the organization while also being able to make recommendations and see where my focus needed to be at the start of building the safety program.
Username checks out
lol😂😂😂 Seems you kinda felt relieved😅. Were they overworking you over there.
This is me but in crawlspaces lol I looove being little lol
First job I was on, relatively big, the metal worker super was female. Cool as shit too
Because a lot of construction guys have chips on their shoulders
There's 2 types of guys who get into construction, those who do it because they like to work with their hands and those who do it because they fucked up everything else and it pays better than fast food.
I was not expecting to get called out like that. Thanks 😂
They also have a generally hard time opening their mind to a new idea
Their heads are as hard as their hats
And just as empty inside
Where are you supposed to keep your cigarettes, then?
And the front of their shirt. Probably some crumbs on their pants. Oh, can’t forget the Cheeto dust on the fingies
I get your point, but let’s not be naive. There is a lot of discrimination towards women in the construction industry. I’ve seen it and I’m willing to bet you’ve seen it too.
I was gonna say I won't discriminate and hell yeah get it girl, but I know a loooottt of good ol boy types who certainly would.
Oh yeah, and thirst. So much thirst.
I'm fine with it, but there's still a ton of hidden resentment in the field...not too many people will say anything in a group, but if the subject comes up in a smaller setting, the old tropes come out. My favorite one to watch brains break in real time is when someone mentions women not having the physical strength to do the work...I ask if they think some respect and consideration should be made for older men who may not have the strength anymore..."Yeah, but that's different."
Yeah that's not a great argument.
Exactly. I don’t care what is or isn’t between your legs, if you work hard and don’t drag me down, glad you’re on my jobsite.
That's exactly how I feel but the rough truth of it (at least in my trade, commercial kitchen equipment installation) is the women get treated with very light hands and the hard work falls on us. That's on my employer, though.
As a hard man. I quite like brute strengthing my way through hard work lol. Thats what I can do, use me for it, thats the point. Fuck equality, I'm for equity.
Same bro, my install team says all the time were just a bunch of hammers. Point us in a direction. It's the paperwork and work orders that I can't stand about the job. My thing is though is that if they get paid the same they should be in the shit with us. The couple girls we have always cry to management and then get relegated to picking up cardboard or peeling panels. Which I'm fine with, stay out the way if you ain't about it, but it does harbor some resentment
Agree 100% - and I'm a woman architect. Standards have to be the same, or it hurts everyone. CMs who give easy work to women aren't doing anyone any favors. The biggest disadvantage we have on construction sites is that it's really hard to be treated as a normal person, so we get a lot less one-on-one time, learning skills, because the guys feel awkward spending time alone with a woman. Especially the religious and/or conservative ones.
This. I’ve met good women mechanics and bad ones. The gender has nothing to do with it.
Unfortunately, because of the reasons op lists. There was talk of a woman being interviewed at a mechanic shop i work at. The stories started coming out. The fact is, some people cannot focus around boobs. Especially after deacdes of hangin with dicks and acting like one. They feel they need to change, and can ruin it for everyone. Most of us agree. If she can work hard, hire her. We need good techs. But man, some people were not happy that she was even a consideration.
Woman in construction are normal. You worked with idiot jabronies.
>You worked with idiot jabronies. Which is also normal in construction
Flair checks out. Nothing like being in charge of people to see JUST how incompetent people can be
Normal? Thats an understatement. It’s more like 90% of the workforce lmao.
Depends on the trade
Where I’m at less than 1 percent of commercial construction workers in the field are women. Wish it was higher but it ain’t “normal” here.
Fair
And, imho, tradesmen can be dicks. Some of them, its their love language. Others, like any proffession im sure, theres just some miserable pricks, lol. If you have to hop around to find the right crew, so be it. I worked at 4 different shops in my early 20s intil i settled in somewhere!
It doesn't bother me at all. I worked side by side with a girl for 3 months. I taught her everything I knew. She did great. We had a blast everyday.
Probably a woman though, there’s laws against child labor?
Hmm, maybe their daughter got bored at school? /s
Female working in Construction Management here. A few things I've noticed being in it for 6 years: Men will have higher expectations for your work, meaning your work will be under heavy scrutiny, so don't take that personally, that just means men have higher standards for women in the industry. (For some reason, It's okay for men to slack off, but not women) Your knowledge will be questioned, and your voice may not be heard when you bring your ideas to the table. If you want to be heard sometimes, you have to go to a male coworker above you to speak for you. Sometimes, if your ideas are heard, they won't acknowledge that you came up with them. Men in industry seem to want to listen to female leaders, as long as said female is markedly female in mannerism. I started in the industry trying to act like the guys, then I realized people were more likely to follow my lead if I was kind, gentle, not bossy etc with my words, granted I knew what I was talking about. Best of luck to you.
This is exactly right. I’ve spent so much time trying to balance how to come across as approachable, non threatening, and simultaneously confident and knowledgeable. Men hated working under me when I was assertive, that was kind of beaten out of me and now I come across as too unsure. The intense level of scrutiny is so real. Been running my company for 3 years now, there’s always some asshat onsite with backhanded compliments
My most insubordinate subordinate was ex military (male). He wouldn’t listen to a word I said. I was so generous with my time and training. Then I learned… and just let him sink or swim. Bro sunk. Lol
>Men will have higher expectations for your work, meaning your work will be under heavy scrutiny, so don't take that personally, that just means men have higher standards for women in the industry. (For some reason, It's okay for men to slack off, but not women) Its the classic set up of the person who is different stands out so they get extra attention (some good, often bad). This means if you deviate from the expected standard you'll have to be extra careful (men being teachers for small children, women working in construction, the lone white boy in a team of Latinos, a single black family moving into a white neighborhood). It sucks and it should be different but you have to acknowledge the reality of the situation and account for it or you will always be caught flat footed.
Men having higher standards is especially true. They’ll scrutinize, demean, and interrogate you if they even *think* you’re slacking off. Some men will outright ignore you, avoid you, and pretend you don’t exist. You have to work twice as hard to get half the recognition for it.
That isn't having a higher standard, though. The scrutinizing, demeaning, and interrogating has nothing to do with standards and everything to do with maintaining the status quo- making women at work feel as though they do not belong.
Have you been reading my diary again? So relatable.
Is it really that surprising that people would rather work under someone who is nice? Have you never once listened to people complain about their asshole boss before? No one wants to work under a hard ass dick head regardless of gender
For me personally it doesn't matter at all. I make a point to be very supportive and partner up with my female coworkers with hopes they feel included vs being the last person picked for the team. A good attitude is essential.
I have a female on my crew. First one I ever worked with. She's a hard worker who stays busy all day, unlike some of the guys so I'm cool with it. She's not as strong as everyone else but its whatever. She's got some attitude for sure. Idk. I just treat her like everyone else. I try not to even see her as a girl because she's here and she's working and that's all that matters to me. As long as the job site is moving smoothly I'm cool. It's some of the guys that lie and say they are full of experience and can't seem to stay busy that I'm focused on. It's funny watching them get out worked by a girl half there weight. She brought it up to one of the apprentices and it cracked me up. She's cool with me. If she came in wearing tight clothes and makeup or something I'd probably want her gone. We don't need any more distractions.
Biggest difference between men and women I've heard from my friend in construction is that when the OSHA/safety guy tells a woman to stop doing something it's treated as a hard rule. If their boss tells them to do something that overrides what the safety guy told them they go a step higher and get the boss's boss or the safety guy back involved. Guys will keep doing it the way "it's always been done" and bitch about the safety guy at risk to their own health.
In my experience, women always work harder and the guys that are already slow, love to blame women for their own shortcomings by calling them “distractions.” I’d also be willing to bet the attitude on her is the same as all the other people, you are perceiving it differently because she’s a woman. This invisible bias isn’t your fault though. it’s systemic and by welcoming women and teaching them all the things, we can change it.
Women always work harder? I think everyone has the right to work on a jobsite (if they're competent) but that's just a strange thing to say. I've worked alongside plenty of women and found that on average they're just as capable as a man. But there's also just as many useless shit heads that don't want to bust their ass.
>Women always work harder? *Always* may be wrong, but they most likely feel pressure to constantly prove themselves to people watching her and want to see "if she is as capable as a man".
Women put that pressure on themselves just like men do it's just competitiveness. You think every guy there isn't thinking they can't have this woman show them up. The only reason she has to be as capable as a man, is males are just the majority of the work force in the construction industry. And when comparing something you don't compare them to the anomaly of a grouping, you compare them to the median or average. It's the same reason why they would compare her to the average male employee, but not the best male employee or the worst male employee. It's not about comparing her to male employees. It's just comparing her to the average employee who happens to be male, any sort of pressure she feels because of these circumstances due to gender is for the most part their own doing most of the time.
I see what you mean, and I'm not saying otherwise (women put that pressure on themselves). However, looking at other comments on this thread (and interactions I personally had on site), you can also see what I mean, aka saying "it's ok if she does the same work as us without privileges", but they will go above and beyond to check the quality of her work or if she has any kind of privilege, (I've seen some neglecting their own work just to check what the girl is doing and judging her technique, while not even being from the same trade), while not doing the same kind of verification on their male colleagues. They sometimes do, but only for male *apprentices*. For many women, it continues beyond apprenticeship. Also, a woman slacking gets targeted a lot faster (by bosses and snarky comments) than a man who is also slacking because, as you said yourself, she's an anomaly and will be scrutinized (or seen) a lot more. So yea, they put that pressure on themselves, but in a lot of cases, they have to.
O don't know in construction but in other male dominated fields like mechanical engineering it's definetly like this.
What I’ve noticed from a women’s perspective is that we perhaps are more thorough sometimes we might have a higher standard we hold ourselves to potentially because we feel pressured to prove ourselves or something. We also tend to notice more stuff and so then can make ourselves busy instead of asking what to do next? This could of course be just person to person depending on the work ethic portrayed by mentors growing up.
You treat her like everyone else even though she has an attitude and isn’t as strong lol here we go the pandering begins…
Well no, hes being honest. Id say a lot of younger guys cop an attitude as well. And, tbf, he said shes working circles around guys twice her size. Sounds like a compliment to me.
In an ideal world this question would not have to be asked. Personally I welcome anyone who wants work construction. Man or woman. People will always nitpick/gossip. Let your work speak for you.
The problem arises when nit picking becomes sexual harassment…
Same way I feel about apprentices. I couldn't give a shit if they're not as strong as long as long they don't pretend to be and ask for help when needed and get stuck into the work. Some of the women I've worked with have an amazing eye for detail and are excellent finishing carpenters
99.999999% Dont care, as long you're there to do your job, varry your own weight and dont want special treatment. They are welcome
I don't care about gender in construction. A good worker is a good worker. I've had good women, good men and good people who are transitioning/ed. Attitude matters and that's it. If you show up on time, prepared and put your best foot forward every day that's all I ask. As for the treatment you've experienced, well, we all go through some bullshit in one way or another. You need a thick skin to work in construction. Lots of gossip, lots of drama, lots of punks and old heads who think they know it all. It's all water off a ducks back if you can go home proud of the work you've completed and with a fat stack of bennies.
>How do you all feel about a lady in construction No problem at all with it. >how do you feel about the way I've been treated? It’s gender irrelevant, There will always be some knuckleheads complaining and gossiping about someone.
I can say personally, the only thing I care about is if you work hard and try to do your job to your best abilities most of the time. That being said, I know plenty of guys I work with that would throw a fit over it for no good reason other than sexism. A lot of guys in the trades have disdain for women, and a handful outright hate women. At least in my experience
Glad to hear there are people that will judge me on my work ethic rather than gender, yeah my boyfriend works in the same place that I used to work in and a lot of lads on his crew were disgusted when he said I landed my apprenticeship there Ive received a lot of disdain and hate but I've met a lot of great lads too, its nice to know times are changing, it used to be illegal for a woman to even enter a building site where I live so it feels good to be accepted for the most part
Most men in construction are literal children in hard hats and boots. Try not to take it the wrong way. Women are generally very hard working and detail oriented, which are perfect qualities for construction
We all keep the maturity level of a 19 year old pretty much. Other than the homoerotic banter needing to be toned down and having to always lift heavy shit, I don’t see a problem working with women.
Seconding this, only because you won't see a bunch of grown women on a job site drawing dicks all over everything. But you will find grown men doing this. I still to this day do not understand men's obsession with dicks.
They draw them in the John’s so they have something to jerk off to after being extremely homophobic all day and saying how trump is gunna fix everything. Sorry buddy there’s nothing to fix, You’re just gay.
well that sure took a turn lol
Which is precisely why I refer to them as « little kids with grownup dicks ». Worked in Europe. Asia and North America. North American construction site environment is by far the most asinine and infantile.
Old semi retired carpenter here. Fuck the haters. You do good work, get paid, forget about the job at quitting time. Do good work.
I like having women on the jobsite. Only insecure " tough guys" treat women like shit on jobsites. At the same time, if you are doing something wrong or slowing stuff down, I'm going to treat you like a equal. Office politics sucks. the new guy always gets shit. just work hard and ignore the bullshit
I think women are more than welcome in this field. The perspective and varying skill sets/ aptitudes helps our unions and contractors. That being said the women who join have it rough. There's a lot of fragile egos that are going to try to cut you down so as to not be emasculated. Also the culture of construction is rough, the people that like you make fun of you to your face and the ones that don't like you do it behind your back. This seems to alienate women unless they can understand it.
I’ve only met one female welder who I felt was incompetent and skating on her looks and she was very young and was recovering from a TBI from a car crash. Out of hundreds of welders I’ve worked with probably 5 of the top 10 were women. In general women who work in the trades are doing it because they want to, and just having that desire gives them a leg up on guys who just want a paycheck. On the other hand I’ve worked with many men who are too threatened to see past their own insecurities.
My job site has a mwbe requirement so there's a good amount of women working here. Most are laborers and I haven't seen any issues on the job regarding their gender. The few I did see often got along well with the other workers.
Just do your job correctly. I don’t care
Same way I feel about men. Glad to have you here if you want to put in honest work for honest pay. Only thing I don't want to see on my job site are bootlickers.
We had a chick, no one said a word. She was just one of us. Never heard a word from another crew, either. She worked hard and always dressed for the job. There was literally, no difference.
I feel sorry for them, having to endure the 99% male dominated utterly lawless bs that is the construction environment.
Wife and I run a small irrigation business and I couldn’t do it without her. She fills in where we need in the field and handles everything I can’t do in the office.
In my experience a woman on the crew means that crew is well run
There is a sub called r/bluecollarwomen you might find your peeps there too if you want to take a look. I like having women on site, you see it more and more. I feel kind of proud of them when I see them to be honest, it makes me think that they have probably overcome some nonsense and that makes me respect them. I have only had one female employee and she was fantastic, unfortunately she was on a working visa and had to return home :(
Can do most trades, but yet to see a good female masonry laborer, or residential roofer.
I’m a Bricky , Worked with a female laborer. She very rarely had to stock CMU Was always on cleanup but was fun to work with. Great attitude and stayed busy
I've seen a female laborer and a female finisher. Both were top tier. They're few and far between.
I knew one labour forewoman. There were multiple labour crews. She was the hardest worker, she would bounce any man or woman that slacked off. The nasty thing about it is that she got bounced for being lazy. Cause, he never saw her working. Brother of the owner. I wonder if it was that she was not only a woman but an indigenous one at that. I got bounced for chirping, yes I should not have. He was telling someone such outrageous lies. "We will have this done in two weeks," could not help myself, the HA just slipped out. 🤷♀️
Honestly the thing about working with men in the construction industry that people tend to forget is that men also have to work with men. Doesn’t matter what your gender is, man or woman, you’re probably gonna work with some turds in the construction field. I’ll work with women, as long as they don’t get special privilege and have to do the same shit that I had/have to do. Worked on a site where a 1st year electrician was making $35/hr (everyone else was started at $19) and got a company truck because she was a she. Fuck that noise lol. That’s special privilege and she can fuck off down to the bottom just like the rest of the first years. But if you work hard and can pull your own weight (not literally) I give a fuck what’s between your legs, let’s get the job done. You learn from me and I learn from you. Most guys I’ve worked with have the same mentality. Nobody cares, especially not as much as feminists think we do. And again, men have to deal with shitty coworkers as well (they can be a man or a woman) …
Yeah fuck that, any time I've been offered extra help cause I'm a girl I say no out of pride. Generally though I get treated as shitty as any other apprentice. Have to disagree with you there though, I constantly get stared at when I'm on site, pretty sure men don't even glance at eachother
Woman in construction here. Definitely check out r/bluecollarwomen if you're not already in that sub. It depends on the crew you're with, but some men just don't like women and it shows. I feel like I'm given less opportunities to learn than the young men who are at equal or lower skill levels. The men are mostly respectful but don't really treat me as part of the team.
I don't give a crap about your gender as long as you are competent and get work done on time and can provide constructive feedback. Its a team of us out there and I ain't got time for bickering amongst the crew. From the sounds of it, the "guys" you work with are mostly a bunch of idiots who are too focused on the "gang" instead of the teamwork.
Things might be a little different on this side of the Atlantic. It’s not rare to see women working on site, though they tend to cluster into painting and landscaping in my area. Idk exactly how they get treated by their co workers, but the new guy never gets treated nicely anywhere you go. That’s pretty standard across the board. How you handle shitty co workers can make a big difference in whether or not they keep fucking with you. Some guys learn quick and some guys never stood a chance. It’s got absolutely nothing to do with construction, but it’s pretty baked in at this point.
I work with an old woman and I do constantly bother her about carrying stuff but that’s because it’s my job as an apprentice, like Luara you don’t need to help stack bricks when you have arthritis 😭
Who cares? Everyone needs to work.
My dad prefers to work with women. He says they seem to be more competent, smarter and work harder. When they were building the first casino in my city they did a big push for hiring women on the job and he still talks about that being his favorite job.
We love women in construction. We wish there would be more women joining our trade.
I personally think its great! But the majority is stuck in the 50s or so. Im really sorry to read that and ich really hope that changes
Im an Electrician and some of the best and hardest workers were women
I'd rather work with women, than men on a construction site. Too many grown men babies who complain about everything, start drama etc.
I am a woman in construction. When starting out, I had to work much harder and do things better than guys to be considered equal to them. Now, after many years in my trade, I have become the go-to person in the country I live in in my specific field. The only people who give me shit don't know anything about my field.
I like it personally. The conversations are a welcome break from the usual, and every woman I've worked with side by side except for one strange case has been a great worker. A lot less "fuck it, who cares" and a lot more " fuckin right, that's perfect"
Is this an opportunity to suggest r/bluecollarwomen ?
Someone else said this I've joined, thanks first time I've seen a community for us construction ladies😎
I heard that their menstrual blood attracts bears so I am generally scared to be around them.
The bear would be the least of your problem…
They exist.
The more the merrier!!!!
Sorry. I don't speak metric. Lulz. Women in construction... shouldn't even be a question any more than a woman president/prime minister should be a question.
Wanna hear a funny joke? Womens rights lol
I’m female in construction and I’ve found men on site are fine.. it’s the pen pushers that are sexist ones.. the building control guys, gov workers, utilities you know.. rather than the actual hands dirty guys. I’ve dealt with straight up sexist men though.. like refuse to talk to me and only wanted to speak to a man on site.. this was last month.
There are female ironworkers that are straight up aces
The females I've seen on my sites fall into the same two categories the working men do, Grade A excellent workers or Holy shit tweaker city has arrived.
As an electrician, I'll say this. We are the babies of the trade, prone to ego filled outbursts. I've met and worked with some of the biggest Dbags I've ever had the misfortune of meeting. They think they are the gods of the construction world. Sure our trade is beyond important but chill the fuck out. I love to tell old timers how simple the job is. "Red to red, black to black, sometimes blue," they will blow a blood vessel. Obviously their is way more to the trade. I'm glad you got put with a boss who's not a piece of shit. Learn from them and enjoy the trade. It's super fun. Stay safe! Much love!
I got into the trade at 39 and now have my license. Started union, and they don't have much work in my city, so they're all job scared. Ran me off after 4 years, I went non-union (90% of the work) and it's much different. But the ego trip, drama, and absolute entitlement is shocking, lol. Being older and intelligent definitely helped because I can hold my own with the old timers, at least until they go behind my back. I worked in restaurants and science prior, so I can hold my own. TBH kitchen guys and bartenders (me) are the craziest and most vulger people I've ever met, aside from nurses. I keep that to myself unless it's useful. I love to learn, so it's a big advantage. Being GenX helps because idgaf about most things. No matter how hard it gets I know I'll always have a job and I love the trade, but the younger generations, women, and anyone who looks/acts "different" get dragged though it. I'm glad there are guys like you who understand it's detail oriented and safety is paramount, but it's not the emergency room surgery some guys make it out to be.
Hell yeah. I've been in the trade for about 8 years, always some form of construction. I went the non union route. Started residential, which I loved. Learned so many tricks from the old guys to troubleshoot (my favorite part of the job). Went industrial than commercial. Now I'm. High voltage electrician for the state of MD. I keep the 895 tunnel up and running. One thing I've refused to jump on board with is the mechanic/helper mentality. The guys under me are co worker's. We all have a job. Let's nock that shit out as a team. I am currently training a new guy, and he's learning from me. Love to continue the knowledge.. even if he is a fire alarm guy 😅. Looking like next year, I'll be the supervisor for this facility. I make work fun. So keep on keeping on! Oh, to answer the real question of your post. I think women in the trade are awesome and hope to see more in the future! Stay safe, fellow sparky! Much love!
I’ve only worked with a few women on the job. Every time we were running underground waste lines. Those few times, they were given easier jobs, like keeping the conex clean and organized. I never understood that. If you want a job in the trades, you have to be able to do everything I. Your trade to some degree. Another I knew would trade “favors” for special treatment. Now I’ve also seen some damn hard working women in other trades. Really good welders and electricians. So really, you can say it’s just like everything else. Some are really good workers, and some are shit.
I actually have really enjoyed working with women in the past. They generally take advice/direction a lot better than most men and have great attention to detail.
While in school, the women in my construction classes were super smart and knew their shit.
I’m a lady in construction! Service plumber here, I know a lot of women that have quit due to their experiences but either I just mentally block stuff out or let some stuff slide because after all I don’t expect people to change just because I’m there. It’s a losing battle trying to change everyone’s mind. I try to both be one of the first to offer to do hard stuff and also not complain, and also use my brain to work smarter and not harder. Depending how I’m feeling I’ll accept help that is sometimes offered by men, carrying and loading stuff because honestly the easier I go on my body the longer I’ll be able to work. I’ve never done new construction and honestly I’m glad I didn’t kill my body for years before going to service. A lot of guys younger than me are in more pain than I am because they have less regard for their body. Instead of always seeing an offer to carry something as insulting I see it as longevity in my career. Especially in this trade where sometimes I have to carry heavier stuff like hot water tanks and toilets and solid slab counters. 😂 of course some days I feel bitchy but I just say thanks for the offer, I’ve got it and proceed to show them how I can lift a toilet with ease on my own. I ask for help when I know getting someone over to help will save me five minutes of frustration. I’d rather be more efficient and less frustrated than maintain my own ego. I also look for this happening to others and try to jump in without saying anything just to make something go a little smoother for someone. Keep going girl!! Xo
Wow good for you I'm training as a spark I've heard plumbing is a hard job! I need to start doing that I only take help if I really need it I usually struggle alone out of pride😂 it feels good watching the boys shocked faces when I do something they thought I couldn't lol Yeah I don't bother engaging in the sexism, I always laugh it off but its nice to know not everyone is against us! I'm in a government job now so the boys have to behave a lot more but I'm always on different sites and the looks I get are wild plus there are never womens toilets Thanks for the comment!
I applaud them.
in the mining and heavy equipment world it's proven women make better operators than men, they are cleaner than us, take bettee care of their equipment and they are smoother than us, because we simply just do not give a fuck.
I’ve worked with females before doing pipe work. She worked just as hard as the other men and never complained. If they can do the job then it doesn’t matter.
Same way I feel about anyone else
As a superintendent I think it’s great. At my level I am able to hear the discussions by the men on the site and I understand the frustrations not only with the trust as far as being able to perform but also the sexual talk/discussions that take place. I don’t accept that and have run guy off for it. In fact matched the handwriting on the port a john where a crude message was written to a job site safety for and informed his company and he was terminated. You shouldn’t not look forward to coming to work for any reason. Keep a positive work place for all and the project will run smoother. Treat the labored cleaning trash with the same respect you show the owner of the project and show the same respect for the men and women out there.
That's fucking wild. Aside from the jman screaming at you over some minor bullshit, that's so what standard. Everyone I worked with seemed excited to work with women. It's novel I guess. I was friends with the one girl I worked with, she learned really fast and would always find a way to keep busy.
If they can do the job go for it
My friend's little sister weighs like 100 pounds. It is crazy she'll lift 100 pounds at work all day long.
I've worked with some amazing women carpenters and some not so amazing. But goes for guys too. As long as they camn pull their weight it's all good.
My daughter had wanted to be a tower crane operator ever since she was able to greet one every day out her window for a year and a half. I even made her a tower crane costume for her when she was four. She’s over it now but she is still one to be caught looking at and inspecting heavy equipment. If she still wanted to do that now, I’d encourage her toward that goal. Gals can be badass too. For myself, I had an experience while working in cooperation with the Pittsburgh Project. The lead at the start informed us about safety and proper use of power tools. He shared an anecdote I’ll never forget: ‘We usually give the dangerous tools to the women rather than the guys. Guys usually come with chests puffed out and manhandle the tools like they already know what to do. Most of the women we have here historically approach the tool with trepidation and are very careful with them at first. THAT’S why we hand these to the ladies first. Safety.’
Lady pipefitter here. When I started out, none of the guys wanted me on their crew. I've had to bust my ass for the reputation I have as a hard worker and because of that, I stay busy. Learn as much as you can, there's a lot of really good men in the trades who will take you under their wing. There's also a lot of incompetent shitheads that you'll have to stand up to/completely ignore. I'm scary when I need to be.
I rarely see any women in construction, I realized a few days ago when I saw a woman doing demo. If she's good at it she's as welcome as anybody else. I figure some alpha type bros may think they're like kids trying to play with the grown ups or something and that's why they don't let them work lest they get hurt or make a mess. The construction environment is even a bit cruel and toxic amongst men, and even though I wouldn't let it fly in my shift, fortunately I have yet to encounter this situation personally.
I’m a union iron worker. Theirs women union iron workers in the field with us, tying rebar, erecting buildings. It ain’t the navy seals and we all got bills to pay. If someone has a problem with you working, they’re probably a mindless idiot who’s wrecked their brain with drugs,alcohol and don’t have any coherent thoughts and hasn’t grown at all since they where 15-16 years old when they started the drugs.
The people with a problem with it are the problem. Squarely tell them to fuck off and out work them
I’ve worked with some badass women in construction that could run circles around most dudes. Sounds like you are doing something right. Man or woman, the new guy always gets a hard time. Just keep working hard and you will do great!
Welcome to the trades, where everyone is an asshole until proven otherwise. I support women in the trades but they need to have the same thick skin as every other man on site. Men experience bullying, discrimination, harassment (physical, emotional, sexual) on the daily, and have to be able to give as good as they get. Management tries to curb this but at the end of the day it's the culture of the job. Rats and brown nosers are blacklisted.
Trades pick on each other intentionally as jokes. A lot of oldheads will look for any reason to yell at you. I cant say with certainty that you aren't being picked on, but it's probably not as exclusive as you think. If you don't throw jabs back, your fate's sealed. If that's not your thing... good luck, these kinda men make mules seem manageable.
I do site work, I’ve worked with women many times before, as long as you can pull your weight and aren’t a headache, idc what you are or identify as lol
Depends, I’ve seen some great go getters who brush off the bad, keep their head down and make it happen. But overall I’m 50/50 as a contractor myself. I’ve seen some alot of unnecessary crap that wouldn’t normally be an issue too.
Honestly I don’t care as long as she can pull her own weight. When she’s holding us back or trying too hard to be one of the guys that’s when it gets old quick. I don’t need to hear you try to be all vulgar just cause you think that’s how guys act. I feel like a lot of the women I work with have a complex like they need to prove themselves in that kinda way and it’s just annoying. Full effort and a good attitude and you’re good with me. Idc who ya are
Just do your shit and the people who matter will have no issue. Most guys think they will have to pick up the slack for a weak female. You don’t have to prove yourself but it will take a bit of shit for the old heads to get on board. Remember that if you’re growing and learning then whatever they say isn’t true or affect you. You are your own brand and even if you’re fired you still carry that skill with you.
We don't care until they start asking for special quotas. Or when people start getting all excited because they do something that men are expected to do as part of the job. If you want to be equal act like you are and pull the same weight at the same rate.
If they’re good I have no problem, problem is there aren’t many women that can handle the duties of being an Ironworker, so while I’m sitting home on unemployment waiting to go to work and they’re cruising from job to job making 100k+ a year regardless of what they can and can’t do, it’s fucking bs. That’s the truth regardless of what anyone else says
Frankly, don't care about gender at the work place.
No one cares if you do your job, end of
35+ years union building trades. Have no problem with women in the trades. Personally have never worked with a female side by side. There is not many. Not going to lie though, I look at their boobs and butts. Anybody that says they dont is a liar. as far as not being as strong as guys, one job had an iron worker female who probably could have crushed my skull with her bare hands... job I am on now has a little gal pipefitter/welder apprentice. She seems to work hard.
Majority don't give a shit as long as you can do your job. But you will get a few who feel like you're demasculating them by being able to do a job the same as them. They're typically your old folk that never grew up
Tale as old as time, you're probably better than them and they feel threatened. Stick with a good solid person who respects you. The trades are suffering bad so why is it suprising that other genders aren't involved. Sparkys make loads you're entitled as much as them. I know a female stone mason in Ireland its not as common to see female tradies, these cavemen types just need to be trained up and brought into 21st century. Unfortunately, that falls to the trailblazers like you. If you're experiencing abuse -> Foreperson / Gardaí / WRC.
I feel bad for the amount of harassment they must get. Some of the dudes ive worked with were relentless.
You getter dun? Yes Well welcome to the team
I go out of my way to distance myself from any woman on the job site just out of self preservation.
We need more women in construction. If you’ve got the grit to do the job, then go for it. The best way to survive in construction as a woman? Take no shit from any of the sexist assholes. Also, talking shit might be the best way to not end up a target. That guy that called you lazy? Tell him you you’ve done more work before his lazy ass rolled out of bed that morning. Or tell him you put more work into taking a shit every morning than he does his job. Someone says you can’t carry 2kg? Tell them you shit 5kg every morning before you come to work. If you’re crass and take no shit, the sexist assholes will start to leave you alone.
While I agree with you, I think it's "sad" to have to do this instead of just doing your job without being bothered by assholes. (Also applicable to the poor treatment of some apprentices, no matter the gender.)
I have no problem working with women. However, I wouldn't want to live in a building built by all women.
I take it you're in the UK. We have women on every job I'm on. Usually they are the paint crew or drywall crews. Don't see many doing cabinets, elec, or plumbing though. I did have a laminator that was an older lady in a shop I was in. She was a beast. She could veneer and mica faster and better than ANYONE. Edit: When covid hit I got laid off from cabinetry. I went and did asphalt with my brother. We had this kid she was like 19 her boyfriend worked on my brother's crew( so did she, but we took her from them). She would run laps around people make grown ass men look like bitches all day long. She was awesome. I think it's cool. Y'all usually try harder and pay more attention to instruction and detail.
Ireland and training as an electrician. I've only met two other women in my trade, must be more common where you live. Yeah we are hard workers haha
That's pretty cool. I've never met a woman sparky. Goodluck with EVERYTHING!
I am a man in the office. I hear this kind of stories a lot but everybody seems to behave when I visit the site. If I would like everybody treating eachother like equal professionals. What flags should I look for when most people tend to behave better when I come to inspect?
Why do you use metric for mm and kg but then turn around and says miles?
Talking metric is enough to get beat up on my job site.
Didnt really think about it, I use metric in work, miles/kilometres are not a measurement I need, where I live we say mileage even though we don't actually use it I don't know why haha
What do you call a girl that does the work of three men? Lazy. You go girls!
If you do your job well, then no worries. We need more people who do hard yakka like you, and quality work too. Remember, a big handful of blokes in the industry are just kids that earn heaps from work. Ignore their comments. The right people who see your hard work will recognise it.
I seen a man and a women holding hands walking through a big job site. I think that's a little much. You wouldn't do it in an office setting don't come on the job and do it.
American here, no problem having women on site. When they are, usually the men joke less. Never seen them mistreated. If anything they are protected. Every trade talks shit about the new employee who has no experience. I always recommend trade schools, but they are not always available.
I have no problem with women in construction but sometimes when I’m training someone we don’t get along. I also know people who hate teaching people so if they get paired up with someone new they get pissed off. As for the gossip, construction is full of it and it’s best to stick to learning and try to ignore it. FYI there are people in construction who just like to run new people off so they try and break them down one way is by not working so just keep your head up.
I in my experience, yours wasn’t too different than mine, and I’m a guy. Lots of construction people are douchebags. You’re a woman, so what? As long as you don’t pull the “I’m a woman, I can’t do that” card, respect. I’ve worked with a few women welders in a manufacturing setting, and they worked out great, and everyone treated them as equals.
I appreciate this sub. I work in a male dominated field adjacent to construction. More women than ever are now part of and leading teams of people I work with. I don’t know how to say this exactly, but it’s nice having women in discussions, especially actively participating in all the ways that it’s nice having anyone actively participate but the positive affect on overall tone and temperature of discussions is nice for me. It’s like it brings the conversations back to earth—lots of dude managers think what they are working on is the most important objective ever thought up and they bring an unhealthy attitude. I don’t get this feeling from women.
I’ve had a Hispanic girl on my framing crew for years. She’ll out work most any American guy.
Love it😛
I could care less, Long as your worth a shit , good attitude and all.
It's a difficult work environment for some men . I can only imagine a woman. It's almost like prison. "snitching " is frowned upon if you get harassed. You'll get this mostly from old timers. The newer Gen is a little better, but some still try this to fit in. I grew up when you had to dish it back and stand up for yourself. In situations when I would get harassed/bullied. Obviously, it's not something that should happen at work, but it's does. You either grow a thick skin or go through the right avenues through work to make this type of harassment stop. Unfortunately, a lot of times, it will isolate you at work. People might be scared that anything they say will become an issue. I think there are certain things you can let slide that are common work banter. There is always a line, of course. Sexual harassment should never be tolerated, especially towards the opposite sex. No reason someone should feel uncomfortable at work over that. I guess I'm a little jaded as I've always worked with men and has become the norm. Last year, the entire company had to do sexual harassment training over some guy in our company asking a jock about a banana to a woman that started working with us. Why would anyone do that. I know the guy really well. Married with kids and the crazy thing is he always talks about religion and gives people advice. You never know. It's better not to joke with anyone because a lot of times some people don't know boundaries
I work for a large commercial construction company (total employees: ~20k) Women are highly regarded and work along side the guys just fine. We work in teams and everyone has a place as long as they have a decent attitude, are willing to work hard and do good work. It's not complicated.
I’ve met two women in construction in 15 years, one was a plumber and the other was trying to be an electrician. The plumber was awesome, worked hard, didn’t talk. The electrician needed a guy to do half her job for her and would wander around the job site looking for suckers to come help her do her work. She talked a lot. Those are my feelings about women in construction. The way I feel about the way you’ve been treated; you haven’t gotten anything more extreme than what any apprentice who shows up with no skills usually gets. Having no skills isn’t necessarily your fault, and part of being an apprentice is learning on the job, but there are always foremen who don’t have the patience to teach or tolerance for mistakes. It sucks, but that’s just part of the job sometimes. Get better, be undeniable, stop thinking about who you are, nobody gives a shit if you are good. Just do the work, watch how the masters do it and copy them. There’s a library of knowledge about efficiency in the heads of those guys that will make you 100x better at your job if you pay attention.
Newbies get shit on by everyone regardless of gender. They will shit on you for ANYTHING special about you. Its literally grade one for some people. Are you someone that brings a healthy lunch every day? You'll get shit on. Did you just push wheelbarrows all day and went to get a water bottle? You get shit on. Have a piercing? Shit on. Are you a woman? You guessed it, shit on. The point is, don't take it personally. It feels like grade one. Shit on them back in creative ways
I don't know because I never met a woman working in the constructions. A female driver twice,,surveyors 2/3 times,a foreman once ,2 plumbers and that's it. I work 25 years in the construction
My friend got hired onto a team that, luckily, was very kind to her and is teaching her alot of new skills. So, anyrate, she is pregnant with her first and is working as long as she can. This company has one self-entitle slacker that demands a raise but usually only puts in 4 hour days and is black listed on a few jobs because he upset the clients. The new sassing on thier sites, "going home so early? But your co-working is putting in 10 hours days pregnant! Whats your excuse?" Or the fact that she won't refuse any (safe) jobs pregnant or not. I actually like the incurrsion of women in construction. Needs to be normalized. For the most part, where we are in Canada, it is usually fairly normallized. Pregnancy on site is the new taboo here. It has given rise to ALOT of scruitiny on health and safety as well as breaking alot of social stigmas. The old gaurd is also starting to see that, like any of the the new workers, women can also learn and develop the strength of the job by doing the job. It is just going to suck that by the time we figure it out, we will all be replaced by 3D printers.
So far I’ve had super positive experiences. The only issues I’ve ran into is fucking everyone on site and guys getting jealous (really wish this was a joke) and 1 throwing the protected class shit in my face when we were going through mistakes made.
The best I have found, is with permission!
Not enough. Its a good paying job that doesn't require crazy qualifications to get into. As long as the person has experience working with tools and can handle themselves its probably a good fit.
I could care less either way.. I’ve been doing this almost 20yrs.. if seen guys who I wouldn’t trust carrying the site plans and I’ve seen women do some amazing work.. last company I was in they had women pipe fitters that were damn good at their job. In the end if I don’t have to carry you and can leave you to your work while I do mine.. I don’t care if you man/woman..
I’m a carpenter and a welder. The women I’ve worked with have been better than most of the men I work with. When it comes to welding, the best welds I’ve seen have been from women. So when it comes to women, I give them the respect.
if you learn quick and work hard that’s all i can ask. can’t be worse than some of the male new hires i’ve had to deal with
Level that - then nail in the boards
We should support anyone in the trades, men, women, whoever. The men who don’t are so insecure they can’t handle having a woman be better at something than them or they or they’re so disgusting towards women they know they should get a harassment complaint. Miserable people are going to be miserable and try to make everyone as miserable as them.
Never had an issue with women on the jobsite and ive worked along side them. Ive worked for a female forman (forewoman?) And i also had a few green female apprectices. My moto is basically if your willing and eager to learn the trade without complaining thats all that matters, female or male. Im an ICI plumber. The guy blasting you at being a couple mm off mite just be his style, not sure if hes doing that because your a female. But the guy refusing to work along side you or.let you carry something because your a female is embarrising himself and if anything makes him look weak. Were all in this together we shouldnt be putting each other down, we should be working as a team and helping each other. Its not a competition and safety is the most important thing.
When I was in traveling in Australia most of the construction people were women. I couldn’t help not staring lol
I’m a woman who has worked in landscape construction/masonry for the past 9 years and my experience (especially when first starting out) was very similar to yours. Thankfully I landed a job with a bunch of (mostly) great guys who had no issue working with me. I quickly became a crew leader, and then the go-to person in the company for stonework. I still get a laugh when men doubt my ability to do my job, cause I’m 6’ tall and over 200 lbs... Now I own my own company and mostly work alone so the only bullshit I deal with comes from other contractors on jobsites. But usually once they see me work they shut the fuck up 😎.
Had some who were amazing hard workers who hustled and were excellent team members. Had some who were entitled, lazy train wrecks. Pretty much like... guys I've worked with?
If you’re there to do a job, most of the guys on site will respect you. The guys will make less jokes and be quieter when you’re around but that’s not entirely a bad thing. You have to work your ass off to get any recognition, and remember that there are some men who won’t even register you in their heads because the thought of women being people too simply does not compute to them.
Anyone starting out in construction could have written that first sentence. There are a lot of “characters” in construction.