There are many exciting career opportunities for women in construction.
Construction work is not for everyone, but it just might be right for you. If you enjoy a challenge and you don't mind getting dirty, if you like working with your hands and enjoy working as a team, then a career in the construction trades may be a good fit.
Click Here to return to the Home page to watch our "Women Can Build California" video and hear tradeswomen tell their own stories.
Construction career opportunities include, but are not limited to, working in the field as a skilled craftsman, climbing up the ladder to management, working for your union as a business manager, or even starting your own contracting business. Click Here to see our construction career ladder. The opportunities are limitless.
Construction careers offer women high wages and great benefits. The best thing about the wages for a woman in construction is that there is no glass ceiling. Every qualified journeyperson is paid the same.
A woman can expect to earn 20-30% more in a construction career than in a more traditional woman's career.
The construction industry's urgent need for skilled workers creates opportunities for women to enter the field.
To work in the building trades, you must start as an apprentice. Apprenticeship programs offer a positive alternative to a four-year college degree. They provide an opportunity to get paid while working and learning a life-long skill. Apprentices in state-approved apprenticeship programs earn 40% of the prevailing wage in their area. This is about $12-15 per hour, plus benefits, when they begin the program. The rate increases each year until they complete the training and become a journeyman. The average construction journeyman makes about $28.00 per hour in California, plus health and pension benefits.
Construction work is not easy. Its hard work but it has its rewards. The work is meaningful and challenging, and can even be fun. Just think when you work in construction there is no need to go to a gym.
Annual Conference
Each spring, hundreds of women gather together to network and to show support for women in construction at the Women Building California Conference. Sponsored by the State Building & Construction Trades Council of California, it has been a great success, providing a venue for apprentice and journeyman tradeswomen to attend workshops, mentor one another, meet other women in the same craft, and have a lot of fun.
This event also offers a great opportunity for women who are interested in building trades careers to meet with women currently working in the trades and learn first-hand how to get started and be successful.
