While the construction industry is male dominated nationally, the underrepresentation of women in construction is less pronounced in certain parts of the country. Researchers ranked locations by the percentage of female employees in the industry.
These are the main takeaways from the report, highlighting some key stats for the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ metro area:
• Construction has long been a male-dominated field: nationally, only about 11 out of every 100 payroll employees in the construction industry are women. This share has been increasing in recent years, however. Prior to 2016, women accounted for roughly 9 out of every 100 employees in the construction workforce.
• Another promising shift is underway: in 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor announced the availability of $5 million to encourage and support women in registered apprenticeship programs in underrepresented industries like construction.
• The construction industry is facing a massive worker shortage, so the recruitment of women into these careers will likely continue to grow in importance.
• In the Phoenix metro area specifically, women account for 11.8% of construction industry employees.
• Overall, the Phoenix metro employs a slightly larger share of female employees in the construction industry than the nation as a whole (11.1%).
Here is a link to the complete results of the analysis, with data on the 100 most populous U.S. metros and all 50 states.