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1 in 10 of the entire U.S. construction workforce are women. Even fewer are women in the field and specialized trades. While more women are joining the construction industry than ever before, the numbers still show a stark disparity between females and their male counterparts. Despite the construction industry having a closer pay gap than the national average, there are still vast improvements to be made to ensure the playing field is level. Construction companies need to make a concerted effort \u2013 but where do they begin? Start by fostering a culture that embraces diversity, creating the stepping stones for equity and inclusion. While it\u2019s easier said than done, these incremental changes will entice more women into this field.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.primee.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Infographic.png” title_text=”Infographic” _builder_version=”4.20.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.0″ _module_preset=”818527b8-d80b-4719-95b5-848f80d5a7c4″ global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-c1e67336-feda-4c47-9460-9b8e445d5414%22:%91%22header_3_text_color%22%93}”]<\/p>\n
The visibility of Women in Construction Month and International Women\u2019s Day is just the start. We are proud to feature the achievements of Savannah Ramos (Director of Purchasing) and Victoria Lee (Electrical Apprentice). These two show there is no one \u201cright\u201d way to get into the industry and no shortage of opportunities for women. \u00a0<\/p>\n
MEET SAVANNAH<\/strong><\/p>\n As the Director of Purchasing for PRIME\u2019s Northern California branch, Savannah Ramos has endured a series of challenges to get to the top of her field. A career in construction wasn\u2019t in her original path. She was studying to go into Social Work when she was presented with the opportunity to work as a Buyer for an electrical company. It wasn\u2019t easy \u2013 she woke up at 6am to start her job, sometimes ending her day at a local McDonalds to use their free Wi-Fi to complete her schoolwork, as she didn\u2019t have internet at home.<\/p>\n \u00a0Working as a Buyer gave her security to finish her schooling, working up in the ranks to Purchaser, where her budding passion for the electrical industry bloomed. Her goal of becoming a Social Worker was replaced with the drive to grow as a leader in construction. The path towards leadership presented her with the challenge of learning to understand team dynamics and how to coach her team more effectively.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.primee.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Quote1.png” title_text=”Quote1″ _builder_version=”4.20.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.0″ _module_preset=”818527b8-d80b-4719-95b5-848f80d5a7c4″ global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-c1e67336-feda-4c47-9460-9b8e445d5414%22:%91%22header_3_text_color%22%93}”]<\/p>\n Her desire to grow as a leader and build her business experience led her to pursue an MBA. She was hungry for growth, undeterred by her pregnancy through school, she achieved her goal of graduating with a Master\u2019s degree. Savannah has now worked in her field for over 13 years, currently leading a diverse team at PRIME. While her education helped her gain stability in her career, Savannah shared, \u201cHaving an education doesn\u2019t mean you will be successful. You need to be willing to put in the work.\u201d Throughout her journey, it\u2019s clear that her drive led her to success.<\/p>\n \u00a0MEET VICTORIA<\/strong><\/p>\n Victoria Lee was working retail when she had a chance encounter with a customer who shared stories of their career in the trades. Intrigued by their story, she saw a new opportunity to provide for herself in a challenging, yet dynamic field. Rather than continuing to invest in her Business Law degree, she chose to turn her focus to the trades. She enrolled in ANEW, a pre-apprentice program that introduced her to each trade and facilitated training, mock interviews, and assistance on how to apply for jobs through the union.<\/p>\n She joined Laborers Local 242, spending the next seven (7) years as a Laborer. She faced backlash from friends and family saying, \u201cBeing a Laborer wasn\u2019t a job for a woman.\u201d Victoria saw this career path as an opportunity to better her life, regardless of her gender. Being a Laborer as a woman was tough \u2013 not only because of the mental challenges of working in a male dominated field, but the physical demands. She even took up weightlifting to become stronger, proving to herself that she has a place in construction.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.primee.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Quote2.png” title_text=”Quote2″ _builder_version=”4.20.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.20.0″ _module_preset=”818527b8-d80b-4719-95b5-848f80d5a7c4″ global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-c1e67336-feda-4c47-9460-9b8e445d5414%22:%91%22header_3_text_color%22%93}”]<\/p>\n Working alongside other tradespeople sparked her interest in electrical work. She changed directions two years ago and joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). Victoria is currently an Electrical Apprentice, dreaming to become a Foreman, with her ultimate goal of being a Superintendent. She states, \u201cI\u2019ve seen more equality in this union than any of the other trades I\u2019ve been in before,\u201d believing that it\u2019s important to continue to change the perspectives of a woman\u2019s capabilities in the field.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 1 in 10 of the entire U.S. construction workforce are women. Even fewer are women in the field and specialized trades. While more women are joining the construction industry than ever before, the numbers still show a stark disparity between females and their male counterparts. Despite the construction industry having a closer pay gap […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":245008,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[222],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.primee.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.primee.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.primee.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.primee.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.primee.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.primee.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.primee.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.primee.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.primee.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.primee.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}