The state of women in the trades gets discussed

A recent roundtable discussion among leading tradeswomen at PHCC Connect covered the current state of women in the trades.

Context: Only ~2% of HVAC technicians are women, and per Susan Frew, owner of Sunshine Home Services, the number isn’t exactly growing fast.

Their conversation covered a few key topics, including:

• Interaction with schools. “You can’t just rely on your trade associations to host events; you need to actually take your company to the local schools… And when you go, bring your tools… the kids love it when you do that,” said Linda Hudek, owner of LH Plumbing Services.
• Getting in early. “Awareness starts during grade school — and not high school but, rather, elementary and middle school,” Hudek said.

Similarly: A survey by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) found that the low number of tradeswomen isn’t due to a lack of interest — because there is interest — but rather a lack of awareness. IWPR noted, “For too many women, finding out about opportunities in the trades is still an accident.”

Cause for optimism: While the number of women in the trades is low, it is at an all-time high. Plus, given the labor issues in the industry, tapping into largely untapped groups — women, in this case — through education or by poaching from other industries can increase the size of the candidate pool and help close the labor gap over the long term.