Construction Women are using TikTok to show their competencies within this industry, prejudice and discrimination they face every day, and to inspire each other to speak up.
Workwear Guru thoroughly analyzed social media platforms, specifically TikTok, to identify the common hashtags used by women construction workers. Then reviewed hundreds of videos on TikTok published with #womeninconstruction and #womenintrades hashtags. And mapped out the discrimination women face and the frequent comments they receive in their workplace from the videos.
To give more insights into challenges and discrimination women face in the industry Workwear Guru interviewed Morgan Ventos, a general contractor from Arizona, Cecelia Leger, a tile installer in Nebraska, and Britney Mroczkowski, a contractor from Florida.
From these videos Workwear Guru found that:
1. The construction industry has a male-dominated culture
As seen in the plethora of videos, women continue to be subjected based on their appearance. “You’re a girl you’re too pretty to be working such a dirty job,” “stop acting like a guy,” or “girls can’t work in construction,” are common comments women construction workers receive. This male-dominated culture creates a toxic environment for women to work as they habitually get catcalled by their peers.
2. Women construction workers face gender-based discrimination
Women in construction–same as in most industries– suffer from unconscious bias. Gender biases are dictated by our background, personal experience, culture, and tradition. As men in construction are unaware of their bias and the impact those biases have, they continue to undermine women’s role in the workplace.
3. Women in construction are consistently undermined
In a male-dominated industry, women’s skills are subverted across all positions within the industry. The women interviewed by Workwear Guru say that they constantly feel like they have to prove themselves of what they’re capable of doing.
4. Women in construction have poor working conditions
Inequality abounds in pay, where women consistently get paid less than their male counterparts. For example, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women construction managers earn 75 cents for every dollar a male construction manager makes. Moreover, women working in construction and extraction occupations earn 79 cents for every dollar their male coworkers earn.
The construction industry has a long way to achieve gender equality, though a gender-diverse workforce would greatly benefit the industry. As more women join construction, the industry’s profitability will increase. Women can increase productivity within the industry by their proven attitude toward collaboration and teamwork. Research on cooperation found that women are more open to collaboration than men. For the industry, this means an increase in productivity and efficiency.
To read the full report please visit: https://workwearguru.com/women-in-construction/