Women in Construction! 2023

Today I want to talk about women in construction, but with a little bit of a different perspective. I read some things on LinkedIn that made me a little sad, although it’s probably understandable with where our industry is. I’ve been very vocal about being equal for protected classes, minorities, and women in construction, and some people have said, oh, you’re coming at me with this woke perspective. I’m like, what are they talking about? I’m not political. I’m just trying to do the right thing.

Short answer: Supporting women in construction isn’t a political agenda. It’s doing the right thing. Construction has been backwards on harassment and inclusion, and it costs you nothing to be sensitive, inclusive, and diverse. Celebrate women for their leadership, their perspective, and what they overcame, not for handwriting or being nice. And with the workers and managers we need, there’s plenty of room for everyone.

Is This About Being Woke?

So I looked up the word. One definition is being aware of and actively attentive to important social facts and issues, like discrimination, harassment, or abuse, and being sensitive to other people’s experiences. Another is having an active awareness of systemic injustices and prejudices, especially those involving the treatment of ethnic, racial, or sexual minorities. I would identify with that all day long. Then it gets tied to certain movements and protests, and I don’t know anything about that stuff.

But I am wondering why a human being or an organization would not want to be aware of injustices and prejudices. If there’s an injustice, we should know about it. If there’s prejudice or harassment, we should know about it and get rid of it. When people say, Jason, it sounds like you’re woke, I say no, that’s called being a man. Other words for it might be honesty, integrity, fairness, or inclusivity. It has nothing to do with a political agenda. My own morals and beliefs are pretty conservative, but I don’t think any of that has anything to do with doing the right thing and being open to other people.

What Has Construction Gotten Wrong?

In construction, we have been historically backwards about these things. We are not inclusive. We’re not kind to women. On one of the first jobs I was ever on, an ironworker wrote sexually harassing things in upside-down orange paint to the female safety engineer, on the main beam in front of the building they were erecting. I’ve heard catcalling and disparaging remarks. I’ve seen nude pictures of women in trailers, and I didn’t tolerate it after I saw it. I’ve heard of nooses being strung up on projects on purpose to send a message. I’ve heard racist comments.

This stuff ought not to be done. Any ignorant person can be racist. Any ignorant person can be sexist. Any ignorant person can discriminate or harass. That doesn’t make you a man. What makes you a man or a woman is doing the right thing.

What Is Accidental Non-Persecution?

I have no problem with white men. The problem I have is when you get a bunch of white dudes in a corporate office, in an echo chamber, with what I call organizational inbreeding: no women, no minorities, no ethnic, racial, background, or experience diversity. That creates an environment that’s only welcoming to white men. If I were in Africa, the corporate leaders might all be black men, or in China, all Chinese men. My point is we need diversity.

I don’t know anything about white privilege or something like that. But I know nobody in construction looks at me and says, oh, there’s a white man, I didn’t expect that. Nobody catcalls me. Nobody puts up an object to scare me off. Nobody says racist things about me. I sit in a place of accidental non-persecution. And if I’m experiencing something good, I want to do my best to make sure everyone experiences it: different races, different genders, all people. We don’t have to tear people down to have a good life. We want that good life for everybody.

What Are You Afraid Of?

It costs you nothing to be sensitive to other races. It costs you nothing to be sensitive to other ethnicities. It costs you nothing to be inclusive of women. It costs you nothing to have diverse environments or to be aware of prejudice and persecution. So what are you afraid of?

I’ll own my own past. Early on at Hensel Phelps, when they said we are going to intentionally hire women, I was a privileged kid brought up by conservative parents, and I asked, why would we do that? What if they’re not as qualified? My comments were ignorant. I didn’t have a full perspective at the time, and I’m glad I do now. I saw a post that they’re the number one employer of women in the construction industry, and I remember 20 years ago when they made that an intentional goal. I’ve seen it work when it’s intentional. Katie and I talked through that story in Women in Construction!.

Does celebrating women mean I’m out there persecuting white dudes? No. Show me when I ever did. We need something like 600,000 more workers and probably 50,000 more construction managers. Nobody’s going backwards anywhere. We’ve got plenty of room. We don’t need a scarcity mindset.

Why Should We Celebrate Women in Construction?

I saw a LinkedIn post complaining about people who say, I love women because they’re so gentle, or they have such good handwriting, or they’re so agreeable, or they bring a kind atmosphere. That poster was right: that’s the wrong reason. If those people are trying to be inclusive with a little ignorance, more power to them. But I don’t want to be looped in with that crowd.