Women have a powerful role to play in the skilled trades, yet they remain chronically underrepresented. Let’s examine why the trades are a good career choice for women and best practices for recruiting and retaining women in the trades.
Why the Trades Make a Good Career Choice for Women
Several of the career fields dominated by women—childcare, personal services, and administrative and clerical work—are either low-paying or at risk of being disrupted by automation.
The trades, on the other hand, are a stable, fast-growing career cluster whose jobs pay a living wage. Skilled trades jobs are projected to grow at more than twenty times the average job growth rate by 2032. Jobs like electricians, HVAC technicians, and plumbers earn competitive wages without a four-year degree. Women completing an apprenticeship in 2023 earned $22 per hour as a starting wage, compared with $18.18 per hour for women with an associate’s degree or some college.
Critical thinking, troubleshooting, and customer service skills are just as important as physical strength and stamina to succeed in the trades. In sectors like home repair, many homeowners feel more comfortable with a female technician in their home than a male one.
How to Recruit More Women into the Trades
Wondering how you can hire, enroll, and retain more women? Your recruitment approach, physical workspace, and culture all matter when designing a program or workplace where women want to be. Here are six ways you can increase participation.
1. Use Inclusive Language
Consider the words you use in your program or job descriptions to attract more women to the trades. Use gender-neutral language and choose job titles like “tradesperson” instead of “tradesman.”
2. Design Inclusive Workspaces
Employers and schools should design their workspaces and classrooms to be inclusive for both genders. For instance, is there a separate bathroom for women and a comfortable and private space for lactation? Do women have access to gender-appropriate uniforms and PPE? Ill-fitting uniforms and equipment can pose a safety hazard.
In most cases, it only takes small adjustments to the physical environment to make women feel welcomed and safe.
3. Examine Your Culture and Policie
Another large challenge for women in the trades is harassment and discrimination in the workplace. An “old boys club” culture of jokes at the expense of women will make it very difficult to hire and retain women. One report found that one in four women in construction faces frequent harassment. Another found that 47% of women considering leaving the trades do so because of harassment and a lack of respect.
Invest in training on appropriate versus inappropriate behavior in the workplace, with management leading by example. Ensure that your company or program has anti-discrimination, anti-harassment and anti-retaliation policies in place that are actually enforced. Then, consider what pregnancy accommodations, parental leave, and caregiving flexibility you can offer to female employees.
4. Build the Pipeline Early
Recruiting more women into male-dominated professions is a long road. Children start showing gendered career preferences as early as preschool, so it’s unfair to place the burden entirely on employers.
To change the tide, businesses, schools, and workforce development organizations need to work together to educate communities and change the narrative.
Career counselors and CTE programs can play a key role in sparking an interest in the trades during middle school and high school. Seek out female tradespeople to speak at career days, share success stories of women in the trades, and create scholarships and grants specifically for women.
Increasing female participation in pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeships is another opportunity for improvement. Although the number of female apprentices has increased in recent years (from 9.2% of apprentices in 2014 to 14.4% in 2023), there is still significant room for improvement. Create a recruitment plan that includes specific outreach to women.
5. Practice Wage Equity and Transparency
A large wage gap persists in the skilled trades—female apprentices earn 35.7% less than their male counterparts after completing the same apprenticeship. To combat this, create a standard pay scale, viewable by all employees, to standardize your wages and promote transparency.
Increase trust by publishing a salary range or pay scale in your job postings, a practice now required by law in 14 U.S. states and D.C.
6. Create Leadership Paths and Training Programs for Women
One study found that 87% of women in construction want career growth opportunities, yet only 47% say their companies offer leadership programs tailored to their needs. In fact, women in construction say that poor management and leadership support are the top reason they’re leaving the field.
Female leaders and role models are critical for recruiting more female workers down the road, since most need to see themselves represented in a career field to consider it. Mentoring and supporting the female workers you have today will pay dividends in recruiting more women down the road.
Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) for women aren’t necessarily the most effective forms of support. Female tradespeople say that increased visibility and recognition from within the company, networking opportunities with senior leaders, and leadership development or mentoring programs would have the most impact.
Women Are the Future of the Trades
With an aging workforce and more than half a million new trades jobs projected by 2032, employers need a more inclusive approach to build a strong talent pipeline. Increasing participation is a long road, but it’s worth the investment—it’s simply good business. Consider these resources to learn more:
- National Association of Women in Construction
- Women in HVACR
- Women in NECA
- Women in Plumbing and Piping
- NAHB Professional Women in Building Council
- Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO)
- National Center for Construction Education and Research
Learn more about building a pipeline of skilled labor with Interplay Learning’s flexible, simulation-based training platform.
