Women in Construction Week 2020: 7 Women’s Stories to Share

City of Madison Engineering is proud to take part and embrace the work of women as part of National Women in Construction Week, March 1-7, 2020.

This is the first time City Engineering will be highlighting the work with seven profile write ups. Starting March 1, the Engineering Division will post on the City and Engineering website a profile sharing the story of each woman’s journey to Engineering, unique projects they’ve worked on, what they do day-to-day and other experiences they’ve had in a largely male-dominated industry. Each woman has a unique story and skill set. The Engineering Division selected a variety of women with different backgrounds from different sections of the Engineering Division. The following women will be highlighted:

• March 1: Sally Swenson, Engineer, Stormwater Section
• March 2: Hattie Russell, Facilities Maintenance Technician Trainee, Facilities Maintenance Section
• March 3: Candice Kasprzak, CADD Administrator & Information Program Manager, Mapping Section
• March 4: Amy Scanlon, Architect, Facilities Management Section
• March 5: Victoria Ramirez, Operator, Operations Section
• March 6: Rachel Belohlavek, Construction Inspector, Construction Inspection Section
• March 7: Kathy Cryan, Deputy Division Manager

“The Engineering Division has benefited significantly from the knowledge and ideas provided by the women in our organization at all levels, including upper management.  Our agency would not be where we are today without their contribution,” City of Madison City Engineer Robert Phillips said. “National Women in Construction Week is a great opportunity to elevate the work of women as we continue to work toward a more equitable workforce, especially in Engineering.”

The focus of Women in Construction (WIC) Week is to highlight women in the construction industry. WIC Week also provides an occasion for NAWIC’s thousands of members across the country to raise awareness of the opportunities available for women in the construction industry and to emphasize the growing role of women in the industry.

Bigger picture: women in the industry

In 2018, 57.1 percent of all women participated in the labor force, which was about the same (57 percent) percentage who participated in 2017 and about 3 percentage points below the peak of 60 percent in 1999, according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Women in the labor market has changed in several ways over the past several decades. For example, women became much more likely to pursue higher levels of education: from 1970-2018, the proportion of women ages 25-64 in the labor force who held a college degree quadrupled, whereas the proportion of men with a college degree about doubled over that time. Women also have become more likely to work full time and year round. Women in the U.S. earn on average 81.1 percent of what men make. However, the gender pay gap is significantly smaller in construction occupations, with women earning on average 99.1 percent of what men make.

Women make up 9.9 percent of employees in the various occupation sectors of the construction industry in the United States, according to the National Association of Women in Construction.

Women represent 23.95 percent of the City of Madison Engineering Division’s workforce.