Female students learn construction not just for men

200 girls in Rogers’ middle, high schools tour four project sites

BENTONVILLE — There’s more to the construction industry than sawing wood and nailing boards, and it’s a field open to people from many walks of life, nearly 200 students from the Rogers School District learned last week.

The students, all girls in middle and high schools, learned various facets of the construction industry, heard from women in the field and toured four project sites Tuesday during the Construction Career Conference for Young Women.

Northwest Arkansas Community College and Rogers Public Schools Career and Technical Education Program held the

daylong event at the college.

The goal of the conference is to introduce female students not only to the construction industry but also to local companies and future job opportunities, said Dawn Stewart, director of Rogers’ Career and Technical Education Program.

More than 10.32 million people work construction jobs across the country, according to the National Association of Women in Construction. Of those, 939,000, or 9 percent, are women.

Beth Brooks, the association’s executive vice president, said women have many options in the construction industry including engineers, project managers and attorneys as well as other jobs that don’t require degrees.

“Women are great organizers and project managers,” she wrote in an email. “Women bring a balance of insight to any office or job site.”

Students attended four 20-minute break-out sessions in addition to a four-stop construction site tour. Six women within the construction industry spoke to the students over lunch about their work and being a woman in field dominated by men.

The hardest part is going into the first meeting for a project and being questioned more than her male colleagues are, said Cori Miller, project manager with Crossland Construction.

She often feels like she has to work harder to prove herself, Miller said, adding she’s never been overtly disrespected.

Ann Miller, project manager with Nabholz Construction, has worked in construction for 27 years.

“It’s grown leaps and bounds,” she said of the treatment of women in the industry. “But it’s still a challenge. A lot of times you’re the only woman in the room.”

The speakers also shared about the different skills — organization, math, science and graphic design — they used in their jobs as project managers, architects and proposal managers.

Brooklynn Smith, seventh-grader at Oakdale Middle School, said the conference made her think differently. Construction workers are usually only men on television and in movies, she said.

“Stereotypes can’t control your life,” Brooklynn said, explaining events like the conference help break down those stereotypes. “It shows girls and men that society doesn’t have to describe you.”

One of the largest challenges for women entering the construction field is their lack of exposure to it, Stewart said.

Research shows the greatest influence to students exploring career options is a personal experience relating to that career field, she said.

This was the second year for the educational entities to offer the conference. The number of participants doubled this year, according to Jerod Bradshaw, director of the construction management program.

Bradshaw worked behind the scenes to help organize the event and facilitate logistics, but the conference itself was for the female students, he said.

“That’s why it’s here for the women to talk to the other young women and let them know this isn’t just a man’s game.”

NWA Democrat-Gazette/FLIP PUTTHOFF Students and teachers look Tuesday at the construction site of a new Rogers elementary school guided by Angelo Moreno with Flintco construction company. Female students visited construction sites to learn about careers in the construction industry.

NWA Democrat-Gazette/FLIP PUTTHOFF Jill Booker (from left), Gail Ward and Ronie Sparkman, all with Nabholz construction company, talk with students Tuesday about their jobs with Nabholz.