Welcome to Women in Construction (WIC) Week.
For the next several days the Built Blog is celebrating WIC Week, an honor started in 1953 by the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC).
Nearly 11% of the construction workforce in the United States is female, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, up slightly from 10.3% last year when Bluebeam kicked off its 2020 WIC Week coverage.
The Built Blog remains committed to the construction industry’s progress, and we believe that a major part of that progress rests on ensuring that women are a growing and thriving part of construction’s future success.
To this end, for the third year in a row we have prepared an assortment of stories that will publish in the coming days showcasing how women are continuing to have a massively positive impact on the architecture, engineering and construction industry.
In addition to those stories, here’s a rundown of some of our favorite—and most inspiring—stories about women in construction we published in the past year.
Inside Suffolk’s L.A. “Smart Lab”: The contractor spent the past several years investing in burgeoning technology, headlined by the installation of seven “Smart Labs,” led by the firm’s Construction Solutions Director Erin Khan.
Khan also took readers on a tour of how Suffolk is increasingly using virtual reality, while also sharing how she adapted to running a massive construction technology operation while working from home at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
5 Things Welder Lashanna Lintamo Can’t Live Without: Construction workers rely on several essential tools to get the job done. Here, the welder shares the items she can’t live without on the jobsite.
Women in Construction Week Spotlight: NAWIC’s Nancy Lira: The NAWIC Los Angeles Chapter board member talked with the Built Blog during 2020’s WIC Week about why more women should work in construction as well as lessons she’s learned over her 20-year career.
[SEE ALSO: Where Are All the Black Architects?]
For Some Women in Construction, Challenges Persist: While the number of women working in the industry continues to increase, statistics don’t tell the whole story. This feature highlights some challenges women face working in the industry.
Inside Bluebeam: Jennifer Younes and Madolyn Noll: The former Bluebeam senior product marketing specialist and current product research manager, respectively, bring unique and fascinating perspectives to the construction technology company. Here, these video/profiles share how both women have used somewhat surprising career experiences to vitally contribute to the development of Bluebeam’s software.
The Faceless Faces of Construction Jobsites During a Pandemic: The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the way construction workers interact on jobsites, andlongtime construction industry photographer Tara Garner was there to capture how the industry continued to build with remarkable resilience.
Cottee Parker Goes Paperless on Queen’s Wharf: The Australian architecture firm transformed its operating structure with Bluebeam Revu to design one of the biggest construction projects on the continent in three decades. Front and center of the story are two female architects who are leading major phases of the development’s design.
Working Remote Sessions: Jennifer Timmons: Here’s how Davy Architecture’s Jennifer Timmons stayed productive while working from home amid the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
