April 3, 2025 • 40 mins
Episode Description
In this episode, Taylor and Hector dive into the challenges women face in construction — from being one of the few on site to navigating discrimination, lack of proper PPE, and the isolation that comes with breaking into a male-dominated industry. Taylor shares her personal story of choosing engineering despite being told she’d never make it, and together they explore the real barriers women encounter on jobsites every day. With data, lived experience, and practical steps for both individuals and companies, this conversation goes beyond awareness and pushes for real culture change.
Sources: Breaking Barriers WIC
Women in Construction – Overall Workforce: Women make up 11% of the overall construction industry.
Source: NCCER – Build Your Future Report
Women in the Trades: Only 4.3% of construction trades roles are held by women.
Source: NCCER – Build Your Future Report
PPE Access – Gender Friendly Equipment: 67% of women report gender-friendly safety equipment is unavailable.
Source: She Builds Nation Survey
PPE Access – Maternity Friendly Equipment: 85% of women report maternity-friendly safety gear is unavailable.
Source: She Builds Nation Survey
Restroom Access: 64% of women report challenges accessing gender-friendly restrooms on job sites.
Source: She Builds Nation Survey
Harassment in Construction: Over 25% of women report experiencing workplace harassment.
Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR)
Discrimination: 66% of women report experiencing workplace discrimination in construction.
Source: National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:13):
Welcome to the blueprint for change podcast, where
we tackle construction culture.
One conversation,
one person, one job say a time. My
name is Taylor Boyle. And I am Hector
Lebron.
And we are your hosts.
Welcome
to episode seven of our podcast. Welcome back.
Welcome to the new people,
the new guys, the new kids on the
(00:34):
block. And that why are you I don't
know. I just I accidentally pressed it. It.
Sorry, guys.
Okay.
Oh, wow. It's fine.
No. But absolutely, like, welcome back to those
of you who have been with us from
day one. Mhmm. And welcome to those of
you who are new. We're excited to have
you. Welcome
(00:55):
to the dark side.
I was just joking.
Today, we are on episode seven, which is
tackling breaking barriers, women's
challenges in construction.
Mhmm.
So, Hector,
I know why this episode is important to
me, but why is this episode important to
you?
Because of Coda.
Coda, really? No. Well, she is our construction
(01:19):
dog. She's been to job sites. Yep. With
her Hi Viz. Yes.
It's the only one I've seen before. Anyways,
no, this episode is very, very important to
me because of you.
Aw. I think it's also important just because
everyone deserves to feel included on a job
(01:40):
site. Right.
Like, it's about more than just us. It's
also about
everyone else in this industry and everyone getting
opportunity
to really
pursue the career they want to. Mhmm. Because
I know there are so many of us
that leave the industry just because
it's so challenging to face all the obstacles.
Yeah.
(02:01):
But we're gonna get further into that later
in this episode.
So for those of you who are trying
to figure out where you can find out
more information about us, go to www.theblueprintforchange.com.
You can find out information about our podcast
about who we are, as well as our
new pilot program that we are launching.
(02:25):
It is currently only in the Twin Cities
Metro Area, but we're trying to show companies
that taking care of their people and their
culture doesn't just help the people working for
them. It also helps them as companies.
But honestly, we're really in it just to
try and make sure that people have the
tools they need to take care of themselves
and their teams. Right. We just wanna make
(02:47):
sure that everyone is heard and everyone is
they can
I don't know? I I don't even know
how to say the correct word. They can
go to work and be themselves. Right. Yeah.
And just feel part of everything
together.
So with that,
let's jump into this episode of women
(03:08):
in construction.
So let's let's take a look
at the current state of construction. So right
now,
11%
of the construction industry is women are women,
and only 4.3%
of women in the of people in the
trades are women.
So we are a very small minority
(03:29):
minority.
There we go. Words challenge,
in the construction industry, but we are so
important.
I mean,
a lot of times, I think when people
think of women in construction, they think of
how,
oh, we're not this is all in quotations.
Just being very Mhmm. Not strong.
Oh, we can't work in the dirt, like,
(03:50):
whatnot.
But, like
You could be a distraction.
Oh my gosh. Don't even get me started
on that. I've I've heard that one before.
That one pisses me off.
There's gonna be a lot of pissed off
Taylor in this episode. Just just for warning.
That's okay. There's gonna be a lot of
her, not a lot of me in here,
but
(04:11):
there are some insights that I've
learned
while
Working in construction. Just working in construction. I
mean, I've seen
a lot
of bad shit.
Yeah. I've seen also good shit.
But, you know, especially
after
(04:31):
being with Taylor,
it's like I I get to hear her
story,
like the inside,
like the true gritty shit that I've never
really
like, I hear it. Yeah. Right? I mean,
that's really what this podcast
is all about. It's about hearing other people's
stories that we can then
(04:52):
start to look for it. Right?
Because before we start dating and sharing our
stories, I I knew that the Hispanic population
faced an uphill battle in construction.
Native comments that I tried my best to
correct when I noticed.
But since starting to date and hearing his
stories, like, I'm able to better look out
(05:12):
for him. And for people like him, and
for people like him, and Hector's able to
better look out for Yeah. Women and for
people like me who are in the industry.
It's all about
learning what to look for Mhmm. And then
being willing to stand up
for other people. Yeah.
And I feel like a lot of these
guys don't understand. It's just like
(05:35):
a lot of these women can be they
can be your mother.
Yeah. They can be your sister.
You know? Your daughter. Your daughter. Your wife.
They could be
you know?
Wouldn't you want someone to take care of
people like that
in the field?
Yeah. Imagine if it was your mom or
(05:58):
your daughter or whoever in the field, like,
how would you feel if she was getting
treated like that? Right.
So let's just dive in. We're gonna be
talking about barriers for women in construction. And
then at the end, we're gonna talk a
little bit about what can we do to
better support them both as individuals
and as well as for
(06:19):
companies.
Mhmm. So let's talk about one of the
first barriers that women face
entering into the industry that is construction, whether
that is trades
or
if it is,
working in the office. I think one of
the biggest things we face is
women aren't necessarily directed towards the crafts and
we're hearing this talked about a lot. Right?
(06:40):
Mhmm. So you have to get
women in
at an early age.
And I think another thing that happens is,
like, even if a woman start or a
girl starts to show interest
in
going into the trades or construction or something
like that, they're pushed away. Like, I remember
for me personally,
(07:00):
I remember
how I wanted to go into construction. I
decided civil engineering was what I was gonna
do.
And when I finally,
like,
we were at prom and we're all standing
around, everyone was talking about what they wanted
to do
for university. I said, oh, I'm going into
civil engineering.
And I didn't hear this, but my mom
(07:21):
was standing next to one of the dads.
And one of the dads said,
well,
she's not gonna make it. It's a man's
industry.
And
finding that out
wrecked me.
This is when angry Taylor comes in.
I mean, I pushed through and I moved
through it, but, like, it it hurt. It
(07:43):
hurt a lot.
And then as I got older
and I started doing internships
and all that, I did several several internships
with a cup with one in particular company.
And
at the end,
I remember sitting down and having a conversation
because everyone had gone intern offer letters other
than me.
And when we sat down and talked about
(08:04):
it, basically, it was I wasn't cut out
for the construction industry,
that I wasn't gonna make it.
And that made this wasn't the right fit
for me. And so at the end so
at the beginning of my civil engineering degree,
I was told you're not gonna make it.
And then at the end, when I'm looking
for a job being told yet again, this
industry isn't for you. Like, that
(08:25):
that's a barrier. That's something that's really hard
to overcome, and it plays mind games with
you. And what did you do?
I said, screw you. I said, fuck you.
But I was like, you know what? I'm
gonna I'm gonna prove myself. I'm gonna go
in and I'm gonna go guns blazing, and
I'm gonna get the shit done and prove
to everyone I belong. Mhmm.
(08:47):
Which is unfair that I had to do
that, but I'm so glad I had the
attitude of that because I wouldn't be here
recording this podcast with you if it wasn't
for that.
Have you,
ever noticed, like,
growing up or anything where a woman or
a girl was interested in, like, the trades
or working with their hands and sort of
(09:09):
they were discouraged or encouraged and how that
sort of played out? Well,
mind you, I come from a different
country. So Puerto Rico. And Puerto Rico,
I remember
when
women
were starting
not starting,
(09:29):
but there was a lot more women
in the police force Okay.
Because that was, like, a newer, you know
Yeah. Newer thing.
And
I started you know, my dad was a
cop, and I would ask him. I'm like,
that you know, that's cool that
there's more women.
Yeah.
(09:50):
And I'm not gonna say what he said,
but he was more like, yeah. Sure.
Nice. Have you ever heard a successful story
of a woman being encouraged to go into
construction and being successful and being a badass
at it?
On LinkedIn.
Yeah? Yeah. No. I saw
(10:11):
in you know, during the women construction week,
the
I've saw, you know, all these pages of
women just doing these amazing jobs over
thirty plus years, ten years, two years, five
years as carpenters,
as,
you know, executives that they work their way
(10:33):
up.
You know?
I don't think I've heard of many stories
where a woman didn't have to pave her
way in this industry. Oh, yeah. No. Like,
where it was just like, you know, everyone
just accepted me. Everything was great. There were
no issues. Like, I don't think I've ever
heard a story like that in construction.
Nope.
Which I guess kinda brings us to our
(10:55):
next
topic, which I'm gonna get very angry about,
but that's okay.
Which one? Okay.
Oh, god. This is this is one of
my biggest pet peeves when it comes to
construction. So we get women in the door.
We're encouraging people. There are amazing initiatives out
there trying to correct this first
barrier for women in construction, trying to get
(11:15):
them interested, trying to give them a support
system and mentors and all that. Right? Like,
I know someone who's running, this one's for
the gal.
Like, I know someone who's running, this one's
for the gals. I gave a
presentation or a panel discussion with her. She's
phenomenal. You should go check it out.
But
there are programs out there for that. Now
you get them in the door,
and what's the next problem?
(11:36):
Trying to keep them there. Mhmm. Now why
is it so difficult to keep women in
construction? Well, we're going to go through a
bunch of reasons why, but let's start with
this. Coda, here we go.
Buckle up.
Job sites are
not designed
to expect
women to be on-site.
(11:57):
This is true. Gonna say that one more
time. Job sites are not designed
for women to be on-site. Now, Taylor, what
do you mean by that? Like, a woman
can go in and lift just as much
as a man, and a woman can go
and do whatnot. Right? Yeah. Taylor, what do
you mean by that?
I mean that
proper PP,
porta johns.
We do not expect
(12:19):
women to be on our job site, even
though they make up 5%, nearly 5% of
our trade force and 10%
of our industry overall,
not to mention our owners and everyone else.
Women will be on our job sites. It's
not a matter of if it's a matter
of when during the duration. We should be
ready for them when they get on-site.
(12:43):
Right.
Do you know how
frustrating it is
to walk on-site and to hear, oh, we
weren't expecting a woman on this job site.
It's like,
you're not meant to be in this industry.
Why are you here? That's how it comes
across.
Aren't you the cleaning lady?
(13:04):
That okay. That's a story for another time.
That is a story for another time.
That's for the harassment and discrimination section, Hector.
But okay. Let's tackle this one. Okay. The
first thing, not having the right PPE.
I don't know how many times I've walked
on a job site and been like, okay.
(13:26):
Where are the gloves? Because there are some
so there are some contractors that require them,
some that don't. Right? Depending on where you
are in the world or in The US.
And
every single time they have large, extra large,
extra, extra large. I'm like, where are your
small?
We don't have small.
Yeah.
It's freaking awful. Because then it's like, okay,
(13:46):
well, what am I gonna do? And then
you wanna know what I do. I go
to Home Depot. I go to Home Depot
to buy my own damn gloves,
and they don't have size small
at Home Depot.
Oh, yeah. No. You have to order them
online or something.
I mean, I'm sure there are Home Depots
out there, but most of the ones I've
gone to do not carry the smaller sizes.
(14:14):
Do you got any I know you did
some research before this. Do you have any
statistics on,
women and PPE?
Well, it says here thank you, Coda. Coda's
very upset by the statistics. It says here
that 67%
gender friendly safety equipment is unavailable
to women
according to She Builds Nation.
(14:37):
So what that means is that
of the women, 67%
said that there were not gender friendly safety
equipment available.
Especially vests.
Yes. You know, and I noticed this the
other day. So
we have
a woman that works in our self perform,
(14:58):
and she's this tiny
Yeah. Thing. Usually, the smaller woman have the
biggest problem with vest. Right. And she's a
badass. She works. She kicks ass,
and she works circles around a lot of
the younger guys
that I've seen. Yeah.
And up until the other I think the
other day,
(15:18):
she got
a medium
vest.
Which I'm guessing she was swimming in. No.
That one was more, like Oh, okay. More
form fitting to and she likes it better.
But you should have seen her with a
large. Oh, so the other day she got
the medium. Yes.
She's been there with large and extra large,
(15:41):
and
sometimes she had to, like it looked
I don't know if she had to cut
them at one point, but,
you know, it she'll be swimming and, like,
if she wears anything, it just if she
wears this, it's gonna get down to her
knees. Well, here's the thing. Like, first of
all, safety hazard. Right? And I know, like,
(16:01):
this is preached so often at safety summit,
so we're not gonna be it to death.
But
it's first of all, a safety issue. And
second of all, it's saying you're not worth
investment
in proper PPE.
We don't expect you to make it that
long to actually need it.
That's what it say like, that's not why
I'm saying that people I'm not saying that's
the intention behind it, but that's how it
(16:21):
feels on the other side. And I also
could be wrong. She coulda had a shmedium
A shmedium? At one point, and maybe she
just wanted a new one, which is fine.
But even though whenever we hand out, you
know, shirts
for our luncheons or whatever
You know, last time, she
felt kinda because the shirts were only large
(16:44):
and extra large and triple x. That's it.
Now when we look at the opposite end
of the spectrum, thinking about maternity friendly safety
wear, only
we found that 85%
of women
said that maternity friendly safety
wear, safety equipment was unavailable.
(17:07):
85%,
which I I don't think I've ever seen
maternity friendly. Like, I think it just gets
bigger. They just give you the biggest size
vest that you can because we don't expect
pregnant we don't quote unquote expect pregnant women
to be our job sites. Right. But the
reality is if we have women working in
our industry, it's gonna happen.
Especially in office.
Yeah. Right.
(17:28):
Oh, absolutely. I don't think a woman that's
pregnant is gonna be an ironworker and go
up there on the beam with the baby.
Well, that's the thing. Like, it's
we don't have any way to support
women who are pregnant in the field. That's
the other thing. That's
So it's a part of a bigger issue.
It's not just we don't have the safety
(17:50):
wear. We don't have the ability to provide
for women who are pregnant in the field
with however they decide to handle their pregnancy,
and they get to decide. That is not
up to the company to decide. They get
to decide with their doctor
what is safe for them to do, and
we don't have any way to navigate that
or very it's a very case by case
(18:10):
basis right now.
Or they tell you
the amount of time that you have off.
Yep.
You know, they limit it. Okay. Let me
be clear. I'm from Canada.
You get a year in Canada.
Moving on to The States
freaking pissed me off being eight to twelve.
(18:32):
I think it's, like, eight or twelve weeks.
I don't know. But, like, it's just ridiculous.
But
it's like, okay. How do you help a
woman who's pregnant in the field?
And then how do you transition? How do
you help them transition back to work
afterwards?
Mhmm. And then it's not just that. It's
not just, okay. Now she has additional needs.
She needs to pump. Right? She needs to
(18:53):
have a refrigerator to place the milk in.
Where do most people do it? In the
freaking car
where anyone could walk by.
Right.
It's just it's not
we don't expect women to be on our
site, and then we really do not expect
pregnant or
new mothers to be on our job sites.
(19:13):
We and it's just so frustrating on the
other end of it, like, looking ahead because
women are very aware of that. And we
look ahead and it's like, okay. What does
this look like in a year, two years,
five years, ten years if I do wanna
have kids? It's not saying every woman wants
to have kids. That's up to them whether
or not they do.
But for the ones that do and they
wanna maintain their career, how can we help
(19:34):
support them?
Right.
Have you ever met,
a trade worker who was pregnant or who
was a new mother while you were in
construction?
Who was pregnant?
No.
Okay. Never in the field.
But who were new mothers?
Yes.
(19:55):
I've seen a couple
Do you know how they manage, or did
you ever I well,
I know they would you know,
they were gone because
they were, you know, giving birth and everything
else in the hospital and then coming home
and then actually coming back to work, it'd
be like, damn. That was
Fast. Fast.
And you see them struggling.
(20:18):
Because your body just your body literally was
just traumatized. Yeah.
I remember my father, there was this one
cleaner.
We were working in a jail in Florida
Mhmm. Building a new jail.
And this woman could not even push a,
you know, gondola with trash, and it wasn't
even full, but she cannot.
(20:40):
And we helped her. We ended up just
throwing it out for her.
And she was just part of the same
company, and I, you know, I told her,
I was like, why don't you just go
home? Just take some time off. She's like,
I'll get fired.
Yeah.
It's just we need a we need to
find better ways to either have those conversations
(21:00):
early and often Right.
In an appropriate manner Mhmm.
And leave that, like, just start having the
conversation and start creating plans and expecting women
to be in your job sites like that.
Yeah.
No. That brings us to the last section
of parenting, which is, like, childcare.
We literally just have this conversation because we
(21:22):
were both soups. Mhmm. And we wanna start
a family sometime in the next few years,
and it's like, how is this gonna work?
Both of us need to be work to
work by 6AM.
How are we gonna find childcare? There's nothing
that opens at 6AM.
Nope.
How can we help
our women in the trades
find affordable
(21:43):
childcare
and be able to maintain their job?
It's another barrier that a lot of yes.
Men face it, but a lot of women
are expected
to take care of the childcare. Right? Mhmm.
Alright. Last thing I'm gonna touch on as
far as the job site is not designed
for women,
(22:04):
Porta Johns. Your favorite.
Oh, my my personal mission is to have
a female Porta John on every job site
day one. The blue saunas.
I want a pink sauna.
No. I don't care what color it is.
So there was a survey done that 64%
of people
said that gender friendly restrooms
was a challenge.
(22:25):
Alright. Alright.
Basic
necessity
to have a bathroom
available to you.
Let me explain to
you in detail
why it's so fucking important.
Buckle up.
Okay.
(22:46):
First of all,
I understand we can all use the same
bathroom. I get that. You know what? I
was on board with that for a little
bit.
You wanna know what men don't have? Periods.
It is a reality of construct.
A reality of being a woman in construction.
You're gonna have to deal with your period
at some point. And then we'll dive into
that in a second. The second part is
(23:09):
so with the period part, you want to
have an environment that's cleanly. Men's porta johns
suck.
There is shit on the walls. There is
inappropriate writing usually about women on it. Mhmm.
Well, I will tell you this much. Okay.
And I'm actually really proud of this.
Ever since I moved to
Minnesota, I've seen the cleanest
(23:31):
biffs
I've ever seen.
That's awesome.
But
working in the South
Yeah. That shit looks like a detention seat
with all the writing on it and you
all the art, a very unpleasant art while
you're trying
to do your necessities.
(23:52):
And then
on top of that,
they never
have a a woman
one. No. Rarely. You have to fight for
it. Yeah.
So the first part is the hygiene piece.
Mhmm. The second part of it is
I especially working down in the South in
the summers,
what do a lot of guys do?
(24:13):
Right? They put it on lock,
but they push it out to allow a
breeze to come in. Mhmm.
I've walked on in on three different men
who've used this technique,
and the level of uncomfortability
for me
walking in on a guy
Why he's taking a shit? Yep.
(24:35):
It is just it is so uncomfortable.
I'll tell you this much. As a guy,
to see another dude, it's really uncomfortable.
Like number one, it scares the shit out
of you because you're not expecting it. Usually
you're
just gonna go and you're like, alright, you're
doing your thing in there and you're thinking
(24:55):
about shit or whatever.
So
I've freaked out people. People have freaked out
me.
Like It's a thing that happens, and it's,
like, it's a little bit easier if you're
of the same gender, but, like, all of
a sudden, like, this person will no longer
make eye contact with me, and, like, it
just becomes a whole unnecessary thing.
Now
(25:17):
quickly
Mhmm. Going back to the hygiene piece because
I said I'd come back around it. So
that's why we need to have female bathrooms.
Now going beyond just the female bathroom,
women
bleed once a month. It's a fun fact.
If you have a wife, a sister, a
mom, they've all had periods.
It's a thing.
(25:38):
How do women deal with periods on job
sites?
Don't ask me that question.
Code is uncomfortable.
Tampons,
pads, diva cups.
All of them have blood on them when
you have to change them out. I need
an
(25:59):
adult.
Washing hands.
It you
just even having a hand wash station where
you can just rinse your hands real quick.
Right. Because even, like, going in there, having
somewhere where you can actually get your hands
clean before you have to do something like
that
is important. Think about it. Think about how
you could take care of women on your
job sites. Yes. I have been noticing there's
(26:22):
a lot of,
hand sanitizers
in Porta Johns. They're hand sanitizers. Yes. What
do you think about those?
You think that's enough? I don't I don't
think it is because it's not just
hand sanitizer is about, like, getting bacteria and
cleaning
that piece of it. But it's, like, we're
talking about oils. We're talking about things that
(26:43):
are gonna be on your hands from working
with it, like cement and stuff like that.
Like, if you OSHA requires that you have
a hand wash station available
depending on I think it's the tasks and
the chemicals being used around there. Mhmm.
We should be having hand wash stations on
all of our jobs. We're either too cheap
or we're not willing to deal with
(27:04):
the
Wouldn't that be part of your silica prevention
plans as well? It should be a part
of your Because you do walk around and
there's dust even though you are wearing your
gloves. Yeah. When you take them off, there's
dust everywhere.
You know? I don't know. I don't wanna
go too deep into the ocean because I
don't want ocean coming for us. No. No.
(27:24):
I'm I'm just saying. It's just
that's just kinda like like you said, basic.
Yeah. Basic things. I think that, honestly, everyone
should have a hand wash station available to
them. Like, it's just it's super basic, and
I get the money piece, but I also
think that people are people. Treat them like
people. Give them
basic needs. Meet their basic needs.
(27:46):
Okay. Enough uncomfortability for all those, who are
listening. Yep. Alright.
The last thing we're gonna talk about is
job site culture as a barrier for women
in construction.
So a lot of times, women are viewed
as outsiders. It's like, this is the boys
club.
What are you doing? Are you gonna swear?
Are you gonna be uncomfortable? And then as
(28:06):
soon as they laugh at a joke, that's
not really funny,
and they're just trying to fit in, they're
like, oh, thank goodness. You're cool.
Mhmm.
What do you think about that? Do you
think women are viewed as outsiders?
Well,
I don't view them as outsiders.
Right. But In general. Some men
(28:27):
do.
And
I honestly just
I just think that men should really think
before they speak in job sites.
In general?
You know? Well,
yes. In general, yes.
But I mean, on job sites,
like,
(28:50):
I'll say jokes and whatnot, but the it'll
be, like, between me and someone else.
You can understand the comfortability
of someone else. Right. And we'll keep it,
you know, as a a and b conversation
Yeah. Where that's it.
We're not saying anything inappropriate or anything
degrading or any type of harassment. We're just
(29:10):
you know, we're cracking our jokes. Right? Yeah.
But there are some guys
that go too far.
Oh, yeah. And they say
really fucked up shit.
I know that, like,
not even jokes. Like, I've straight up been
told I don't want a woman on my
job site.
Like, just straight up discrimination.
(29:33):
Yeah. Like, it
and I've also been told those comments of,
like, oh, thank goodness you're cool. Like
Yeah. Thank God you're chill and you understand.
You're like a guy.
And it's so hard too being a woman
on a job site in the sense of,
like, I've had difficulties being like, hey, yo.
You wanna go grab a beer after work?
(29:54):
Because then, like, I think so that you're
asking him out.
Yeah. And it's like, that's not what I
meant. I'm trying to because so many friends
come from the workplace and it's so hard
trying to make friends. It can be difficult.
It's it can be done. I've seen it
be done. But it's difficult trying to navigate
those complexities
as someone who's just entering the industry, especially.
(30:15):
Alright.
Last barrier,
harassment and discrimination. Let's start out with twenty
five percent of women experience harassment frequently or
always,
and sixty six percent have experienced discrimination.
I'm gonna get real with you guys.
I've been harassed on a job site.
(30:37):
I've been in a situation where I feared
for my safety.
I had been told that, you know what?
This individual is gonna be coming back to
site. Make sure you lock your doors. And
I'm like, are you joking or are you
being serious? They're like, we're not joking. Lock
your doors.
And I'm like,
okay. I'm the only woman on job site.
Like, that's that's great.
(30:58):
I've been told
that
guys were thinking about me inappropriately
while with their wife.
I've been told
that
I've been touched inappropriately on-site. I have heard
women who have been I've talked to women
and who have been sexually assaulted on job
sites. Oh, yeah.
(31:19):
It's like it.
Harassment's
not a thing of the past. And you
know what? Are we better than we used
to be? Maybe. I don't know.
Is it good enough? Hell no. We can
do better than
And there goes
Taylor.
All right.
Alright. So now let's get into discrimination.
(31:42):
Okay.
So
take it away.
Okay.
Oh, god.
So
what does good discrimination look like? It means
giving women certain tasks
that you won't give men.
It means saying I don't want a woman
on my job site. It
(32:04):
means being told you're only getting this job
because you're a woman.
It's being told you're only getting this promotion
because all the guys are getting it.
And it's they're like, those are those are
all my personal examples of
discrimination
I've personally experienced and I've heard way worse.
(32:24):
I've heard stories from women who have been
brought to tears with the level of discrimination
they've experienced.
I have discrimination.
Yeah. No. You absolutely do. I've been told
one time me and my father showed up
and we went, you know, did our orientation
and whatnot.
And who are my pipefitters?
Us two.
(32:45):
And the guy looked at me. He said,
oh, your kind's not that great at pipe
fitting.
Discrimination.
And I was like, okay.
We're out of here.
Have you ever seen, like, discrimination or harassment
with regards to women on job sites?
Yeah.
I mean,
don't you remember Walgreens?
(33:06):
That was me. Hi.
And the other women on-site, there were, like,
five of us, I think. Six, maybe. There
was more. Because remember you had the drywallers.
Yeah. That's true. That was a good amount.
And then you had the ones for the
pneumatic and all the machinery. Oh, I wasn't
counting them because they weren't our subcontractors.
They were but, yeah, they experienced a lot
too. They're on-site
(33:26):
with all the other subs.
I think
it's just it's hard because
you fight it and you become jaded.
Like, you can, like, you just be you
you can
it's hard because I'm very passionate about it
because it's just not okay. I don't care
if it's because of race, gender,
(33:47):
age,
sexual orientation. I don't care what it's about.
Harassment and discrimination ruins people lives. Like, I
almost quit construction because of it. And if
I didn't have people looking out for me,
I would've. And I'm pretty sure there's a
lot of women who have quit
because of
it. So these are sort of the barriers
that women face in construction. And you know
(34:08):
what? I'm not saying
that all sucks as a woman. I'm not
gonna lie. Like, I have privilege as a
woman in construction too. I I'm willing to
admit that.
When I go and ask someone, hey. Why
is this being done this way?
People are more than willing to explain it
to me. A guy goes and asks the
same question. What are you, a dumbass? Go
look at the fucking drawings. Like, I Mhmm.
(34:29):
I recognize there are also advantages to being
a woman in construction.
I also recognize that I found love through
construction. I found you.
Hi.
I have made lifelong friends that are down
in Texas and here in Minnesota
because of construction.
Construction is such an incredible industry. I think
the reason these barriers get to me so
much is because it prevents women
(34:52):
from staying in this industry that has so
much to offer. We have one of the
highest
equal pay rates
of any industry. Mhmm. We have
there's so much there's so much pride you
can find in this work. There's a lot
of good, but there's also
a shit ton of bad.
So how can we start turning all this
(35:13):
bad
bad into an opportunity?
I think for individuals, the biggest thing is
speak up when you hear something. Mhmm.
Let's start trying to understand each other and
build bridges, not walls. So get to know
your female coworkers.
Start to talk to them. Start to share
with them. See if they open up to
(35:33):
you. See if there's anything you can do
individually to help them. Right.
But that first part, that speaking up Mhmm.
It hurts so much worse
when someone just stands by and watches.
When that comment was made, I don't want
a woman on my job site, there were
five people at that table.
(35:54):
Not just
regular superintendents, the project managers, I mean, upper
level management there. Mhmm.
And
that comment, yeah, bugged me. I was like,
what the fuck? What hurt way more is
that no one said, hey, that's wrong. That's
not okay. Yeah.
Because you know what?
K. So some people are just stupid and
(36:14):
you realize that and it's ignorant and whatnot.
But what hurts is when people who know
better don't say anything. Mhmm.
So
if there's a joke made,
speak up for that. Yeah.
Because it's not okay.
And then for companies, what do you think
companies can do, Hector?
I mean,
(36:34):
they can create an environment
where women
they can they can create a job site
where women are welcomed.
Where they have Porta Johns on-site day one
for women.
Oh, you know, welcome. And we have this.
We have this. We have this. We have
size,
whatever, small. Proper size. Yeah. Proper sizes, proper
(36:57):
everything. We have maternity wear for you if
you need it.
We have a pump station set. Like, there's
as a company, you have so much power
to take care of your women. Right. So
I think another thing that
companies can do is train their leadership
as far as what to look for. Mhmm.
(37:18):
Because you know what? You don't know
you don't know what to look for until
you know. Unless you've experienced it. Like, we're
giving a harassment
toolbox talk,
and
my my eyes immediately started scanning the crowd
because I know what happens when we start
talking about harassment. Jokes, laughs,
little side elbows. Right? I start looking around,
and I see multiple people laughing.
(37:40):
And I hope, like, one of my other
superintents is gonna stand up and be like,
hey. That's not okay. Like, this isn't a
joke. Right? Mhmm. No one caught it. At
the end, I was told them. I I
I spoke woke up, and I was like,
you know what? You guys, this is not
a fucking joke. These are people's lives at
stake.
Their livelihoods. People quit because of harassment. Mhmm.
People kill themselves because of harassment.
(38:03):
It's not a fucking joke. It's not. And
you know what? I'll respect the one of
the other superintendents came up to me afterwards,
and he's like, I didn't even know that
people were laughing. I'm like, I know what
to look for. That that's the thing. It's
just that It's educating other people. If there's
a toolbox talk going on, look around for
people who are making jokes. Right. Look for
the comments, the sly comments.
(38:25):
Take a look at that because it's there.
So that's kinda what you can do as
individuals and companies. So, overall, today, we touched
on
the barriers women face entering into construction and
then, basically, what you guys can do to
help make this a better place for everyone.
So I think for individuals, my call to
action is
(38:46):
if you hear something, say something. Mhmm. Support
your female coworkers
and just get to know each other.
Audit your job sites
Yeah. For companies. Yeah. Yeah. Pay attention to
your culture.
Pay attention to your workers.
You know?
Don't wait
for
(39:07):
people
to quit or lawsuits or something to happen.
Be proactive. Like, get out there and figure
out what is our culture really like.
Just all you gotta do is just I
feel like it's very important to just sit
there and ask the females.
What do you need? What do you need?
Are we Create an environment where they feel
(39:28):
comfortable enough to speak up, but ask them.
Right.
Right.
No, I, I a % agree. And you
know what? If you have a story as
a woman in construction or as a man
in construction and something you faced,
email us. Mhmm. You can email us at
theblueprintforchange@gmail.com
or my personal email, which is taylor.boylow@theblueprintforchange.com.
(39:51):
And you can find our email at the
website which is linked here. You can leave
us stories.
Leave us anything. We wanna hear from you
guys. Yes.
So with that,
just remember that
this isn't gonna change overnight.
It's gonna take having
multiple conversations, but we're gonna make a difference
by changing construction and culture, one conversation,
(40:15):
one person, one job site at a time.
And don't forget to be the change you
wanna see.
And with
that, we will see you guys next week.
Welcome to the blueprint for change podcast, where
we tackle construction culture.
One conversation,
one person, one job say a time. My
name is Taylor Boyle. And I am Hector
Lebron.
And we are your hosts.
Welcome
to episode seven of our podcast. Welcome back.
Welcome to the new people,
the new guys, the new kids on the
(00:34):
block. And that why are you I don't
know. I just I accidentally pressed it. It.
Sorry, guys.
Okay.
Oh, wow. It's fine.
No. But absolutely, like, welcome back to those
of you who have been with us from
day one. Mhmm. And welcome to those of
you who are new. We're excited to have
you. Welcome
(00:55):
to the dark side.
I was just joking.
Today, we are on episode seven, which is
tackling breaking barriers, women's
challenges in construction.
Mhmm.
So, Hector,
I know why this episode is important to
me, but why is this episode important to
you?
Because of Coda.
Coda, really? No. Well, she is our construction
(01:19):
dog. She's been to job sites. Yep. With
her Hi Viz. Yes.
It's the only one I've seen before. Anyways,
no, this episode is very, very important to
me because of you.
Aw. I think it's also important just because
everyone deserves to feel included on a job
(01:40):
site. Right.
Like, it's about more than just us. It's
also about
everyone else in this industry and everyone getting
opportunity
to really
pursue the career they want to. Mhmm. Because
I know there are so many of us
that leave the industry just because
it's so challenging to face all the obstacles.
Yeah.
(02:01):
But we're gonna get further into that later
in this episode.
So for those of you who are trying
to figure out where you can find out
more information about us, go to www.theblueprintforchange.com.
You can find out information about our podcast
about who we are, as well as our
new pilot program that we are launching.
(02:25):
It is currently only in the Twin Cities
Metro Area, but we're trying to show companies
that taking care of their people and their
culture doesn't just help the people working for
them. It also helps them as companies.
But honestly, we're really in it just to
try and make sure that people have the
tools they need to take care of themselves
and their teams. Right. We just wanna make
(02:47):
sure that everyone is heard and everyone is
they can
I don't know? I I don't even know
how to say the correct word. They can
go to work and be themselves. Right. Yeah.
And just feel part of everything
together.
So with that,
let's jump into this episode of women
(03:08):
in construction.
So let's let's take a look
at the current state of construction. So right
now,
11%
of the construction industry is women are women,
and only 4.3%
of women in the of people in the
trades are women.
So we are a very small minority
(03:29):
minority.
There we go. Words challenge,
in the construction industry, but we are so
important.
I mean,
a lot of times, I think when people
think of women in construction, they think of
how,
oh, we're not this is all in quotations.
Just being very Mhmm. Not strong.
Oh, we can't work in the dirt, like,
(03:50):
whatnot.
But, like
You could be a distraction.
Oh my gosh. Don't even get me started
on that. I've I've heard that one before.
That one pisses me off.
There's gonna be a lot of pissed off
Taylor in this episode. Just just for warning.
That's okay. There's gonna be a lot of
her, not a lot of me in here,
but
(04:11):
there are some insights that I've
learned
while
Working in construction. Just working in construction. I
mean, I've seen
a lot
of bad shit.
Yeah. I've seen also good shit.
But, you know, especially
after
(04:31):
being with Taylor,
it's like I I get to hear her
story,
like the inside,
like the true gritty shit that I've never
really
like, I hear it. Yeah. Right? I mean,
that's really what this podcast
is all about. It's about hearing other people's
stories that we can then
(04:52):
start to look for it. Right?
Because before we start dating and sharing our
stories, I I knew that the Hispanic population
faced an uphill battle in construction.
Native comments that I tried my best to
correct when I noticed.
But since starting to date and hearing his
stories, like, I'm able to better look out
(05:12):
for him. And for people like him, and
for people like him, and Hector's able to
better look out for Yeah. Women and for
people like me who are in the industry.
It's all about
learning what to look for Mhmm. And then
being willing to stand up
for other people. Yeah.
And I feel like a lot of these
guys don't understand. It's just like
(05:35):
a lot of these women can be they
can be your mother.
Yeah. They can be your sister.
You know? Your daughter. Your daughter. Your wife.
They could be
you know?
Wouldn't you want someone to take care of
people like that
in the field?
Yeah. Imagine if it was your mom or
(05:58):
your daughter or whoever in the field, like,
how would you feel if she was getting
treated like that? Right.
So let's just dive in. We're gonna be
talking about barriers for women in construction. And
then at the end, we're gonna talk a
little bit about what can we do to
better support them both as individuals
and as well as for
(06:19):
companies.
Mhmm. So let's talk about one of the
first barriers that women face
entering into the industry that is construction, whether
that is trades
or
if it is,
working in the office. I think one of
the biggest things we face is
women aren't necessarily directed towards the crafts and
we're hearing this talked about a lot. Right?
(06:40):
Mhmm. So you have to get
women in
at an early age.
And I think another thing that happens is,
like, even if a woman start or a
girl starts to show interest
in
going into the trades or construction or something
like that, they're pushed away. Like, I remember
for me personally,
(07:00):
I remember
how I wanted to go into construction. I
decided civil engineering was what I was gonna
do.
And when I finally,
like,
we were at prom and we're all standing
around, everyone was talking about what they wanted
to do
for university. I said, oh, I'm going into
civil engineering.
And I didn't hear this, but my mom
(07:21):
was standing next to one of the dads.
And one of the dads said,
well,
she's not gonna make it. It's a man's
industry.
And
finding that out
wrecked me.
This is when angry Taylor comes in.
I mean, I pushed through and I moved
through it, but, like, it it hurt. It
(07:43):
hurt a lot.
And then as I got older
and I started doing internships
and all that, I did several several internships
with a cup with one in particular company.
And
at the end,
I remember sitting down and having a conversation
because everyone had gone intern offer letters other
than me.
And when we sat down and talked about
(08:04):
it, basically, it was I wasn't cut out
for the construction industry,
that I wasn't gonna make it.
And that made this wasn't the right fit
for me. And so at the end so
at the beginning of my civil engineering degree,
I was told you're not gonna make it.
And then at the end, when I'm looking
for a job being told yet again, this
industry isn't for you. Like, that
(08:25):
that's a barrier. That's something that's really hard
to overcome, and it plays mind games with
you. And what did you do?
I said, screw you. I said, fuck you.
But I was like, you know what? I'm
gonna I'm gonna prove myself. I'm gonna go
in and I'm gonna go guns blazing, and
I'm gonna get the shit done and prove
to everyone I belong. Mhmm.
(08:47):
Which is unfair that I had to do
that, but I'm so glad I had the
attitude of that because I wouldn't be here
recording this podcast with you if it wasn't
for that.
Have you,
ever noticed, like,
growing up or anything where a woman or
a girl was interested in, like, the trades
or working with their hands and sort of
(09:09):
they were discouraged or encouraged and how that
sort of played out? Well,
mind you, I come from a different
country. So Puerto Rico. And Puerto Rico,
I remember
when
women
were starting
not starting,
(09:29):
but there was a lot more women
in the police force Okay.
Because that was, like, a newer, you know
Yeah. Newer thing.
And
I started you know, my dad was a
cop, and I would ask him. I'm like,
that you know, that's cool that
there's more women.
Yeah.
(09:50):
And I'm not gonna say what he said,
but he was more like, yeah. Sure.
Nice. Have you ever heard a successful story
of a woman being encouraged to go into
construction and being successful and being a badass
at it?
On LinkedIn.
Yeah? Yeah. No. I saw
(10:11):
in you know, during the women construction week,
the
I've saw, you know, all these pages of
women just doing these amazing jobs over
thirty plus years, ten years, two years, five
years as carpenters,
as,
you know, executives that they work their way
(10:33):
up.
You know?
I don't think I've heard of many stories
where a woman didn't have to pave her
way in this industry. Oh, yeah. No. Like,
where it was just like, you know, everyone
just accepted me. Everything was great. There were
no issues. Like, I don't think I've ever
heard a story like that in construction.
Nope.
Which I guess kinda brings us to our
(10:55):
next
topic, which I'm gonna get very angry about,
but that's okay.
Which one? Okay.
Oh, god. This is this is one of
my biggest pet peeves when it comes to
construction. So we get women in the door.
We're encouraging people. There are amazing initiatives out
there trying to correct this first
barrier for women in construction, trying to get
(11:15):
them interested, trying to give them a support
system and mentors and all that. Right? Like,
I know someone who's running, this one's for
the gal.
Like, I know someone who's running, this one's
for the gals. I gave a
presentation or a panel discussion with her. She's
phenomenal. You should go check it out.
But
there are programs out there for that. Now
you get them in the door,
and what's the next problem?
(11:36):
Trying to keep them there. Mhmm. Now why
is it so difficult to keep women in
construction? Well, we're going to go through a
bunch of reasons why, but let's start with
this. Coda, here we go.
Buckle up.
Job sites are
not designed
to expect
women to be on-site.
(11:57):
This is true. Gonna say that one more
time. Job sites are not designed
for women to be on-site. Now, Taylor, what
do you mean by that? Like, a woman
can go in and lift just as much
as a man, and a woman can go
and do whatnot. Right? Yeah. Taylor, what do
you mean by that?
I mean that
proper PP,
porta johns.
We do not expect
(12:19):
women to be on our job site, even
though they make up 5%, nearly 5% of
our trade force and 10%
of our industry overall,
not to mention our owners and everyone else.
Women will be on our job sites. It's
not a matter of if it's a matter
of when during the duration. We should be
ready for them when they get on-site.
(12:43):
Right.
Do you know how
frustrating it is
to walk on-site and to hear, oh, we
weren't expecting a woman on this job site.
It's like,
you're not meant to be in this industry.
Why are you here? That's how it comes
across.
Aren't you the cleaning lady?
(13:04):
That okay. That's a story for another time.
That is a story for another time.
That's for the harassment and discrimination section, Hector.
But okay. Let's tackle this one. Okay. The
first thing, not having the right PPE.
I don't know how many times I've walked
on a job site and been like, okay.
(13:26):
Where are the gloves? Because there are some
so there are some contractors that require them,
some that don't. Right? Depending on where you
are in the world or in The US.
And
every single time they have large, extra large,
extra, extra large. I'm like, where are your
small?
We don't have small.
Yeah.
It's freaking awful. Because then it's like, okay,
(13:46):
well, what am I gonna do? And then
you wanna know what I do. I go
to Home Depot. I go to Home Depot
to buy my own damn gloves,
and they don't have size small
at Home Depot.
Oh, yeah. No. You have to order them
online or something.
I mean, I'm sure there are Home Depots
out there, but most of the ones I've
gone to do not carry the smaller sizes.
(14:14):
Do you got any I know you did
some research before this. Do you have any
statistics on,
women and PPE?
Well, it says here thank you, Coda. Coda's
very upset by the statistics. It says here
that 67%
gender friendly safety equipment is unavailable
to women
according to She Builds Nation.
(14:37):
So what that means is that
of the women, 67%
said that there were not gender friendly safety
equipment available.
Especially vests.
Yes. You know, and I noticed this the
other day. So
we have
a woman that works in our self perform,
(14:58):
and she's this tiny
Yeah. Thing. Usually, the smaller woman have the
biggest problem with vest. Right. And she's a
badass. She works. She kicks ass,
and she works circles around a lot of
the younger guys
that I've seen. Yeah.
And up until the other I think the
other day,
(15:18):
she got
a medium
vest.
Which I'm guessing she was swimming in. No.
That one was more, like Oh, okay. More
form fitting to and she likes it better.
But you should have seen her with a
large. Oh, so the other day she got
the medium. Yes.
She's been there with large and extra large,
(15:41):
and
sometimes she had to, like it looked
I don't know if she had to cut
them at one point, but,
you know, it she'll be swimming and, like,
if she wears anything, it just if she
wears this, it's gonna get down to her
knees. Well, here's the thing. Like, first of
all, safety hazard. Right? And I know, like,
(16:01):
this is preached so often at safety summit,
so we're not gonna be it to death.
But
it's first of all, a safety issue. And
second of all, it's saying you're not worth
investment
in proper PPE.
We don't expect you to make it that
long to actually need it.
That's what it say like, that's not why
I'm saying that people I'm not saying that's
the intention behind it, but that's how it
(16:21):
feels on the other side. And I also
could be wrong. She coulda had a shmedium
A shmedium? At one point, and maybe she
just wanted a new one, which is fine.
But even though whenever we hand out, you
know, shirts
for our luncheons or whatever
You know, last time, she
felt kinda because the shirts were only large
(16:44):
and extra large and triple x. That's it.
Now when we look at the opposite end
of the spectrum, thinking about maternity friendly safety
wear, only
we found that 85%
of women
said that maternity friendly safety
wear, safety equipment was unavailable.
(17:07):
85%,
which I I don't think I've ever seen
maternity friendly. Like, I think it just gets
bigger. They just give you the biggest size
vest that you can because we don't expect
pregnant we don't quote unquote expect pregnant women
to be our job sites. Right. But the
reality is if we have women working in
our industry, it's gonna happen.
Especially in office.
Yeah. Right.
(17:28):
Oh, absolutely. I don't think a woman that's
pregnant is gonna be an ironworker and go
up there on the beam with the baby.
Well, that's the thing. Like, it's
we don't have any way to support
women who are pregnant in the field. That's
the other thing. That's
So it's a part of a bigger issue.
It's not just we don't have the safety
(17:50):
wear. We don't have the ability to provide
for women who are pregnant in the field
with however they decide to handle their pregnancy,
and they get to decide. That is not
up to the company to decide. They get
to decide with their doctor
what is safe for them to do, and
we don't have any way to navigate that
or very it's a very case by case
(18:10):
basis right now.
Or they tell you
the amount of time that you have off.
Yep.
You know, they limit it. Okay. Let me
be clear. I'm from Canada.
You get a year in Canada.
Moving on to The States
freaking pissed me off being eight to twelve.
(18:32):
I think it's, like, eight or twelve weeks.
I don't know. But, like, it's just ridiculous.
But
it's like, okay. How do you help a
woman who's pregnant in the field?
And then how do you transition? How do
you help them transition back to work
afterwards?
Mhmm. And then it's not just that. It's
not just, okay. Now she has additional needs.
She needs to pump. Right? She needs to
(18:53):
have a refrigerator to place the milk in.
Where do most people do it? In the
freaking car
where anyone could walk by.
Right.
It's just it's not
we don't expect women to be on our
site, and then we really do not expect
pregnant or
new mothers to be on our job sites.
(19:13):
We and it's just so frustrating on the
other end of it, like, looking ahead because
women are very aware of that. And we
look ahead and it's like, okay. What does
this look like in a year, two years,
five years, ten years if I do wanna
have kids? It's not saying every woman wants
to have kids. That's up to them whether
or not they do.
But for the ones that do and they
wanna maintain their career, how can we help
(19:34):
support them?
Right.
Have you ever met,
a trade worker who was pregnant or who
was a new mother while you were in
construction?
Who was pregnant?
No.
Okay. Never in the field.
But who were new mothers?
Yes.
(19:55):
I've seen a couple
Do you know how they manage, or did
you ever I well,
I know they would you know,
they were gone because
they were, you know, giving birth and everything
else in the hospital and then coming home
and then actually coming back to work, it'd
be like, damn. That was
Fast. Fast.
And you see them struggling.
(20:18):
Because your body just your body literally was
just traumatized. Yeah.
I remember my father, there was this one
cleaner.
We were working in a jail in Florida
Mhmm. Building a new jail.
And this woman could not even push a,
you know, gondola with trash, and it wasn't
even full, but she cannot.
(20:40):
And we helped her. We ended up just
throwing it out for her.
And she was just part of the same
company, and I, you know, I told her,
I was like, why don't you just go
home? Just take some time off. She's like,
I'll get fired.
Yeah.
It's just we need a we need to
find better ways to either have those conversations
(21:00):
early and often Right.
In an appropriate manner Mhmm.
And leave that, like, just start having the
conversation and start creating plans and expecting women
to be in your job sites like that.
Yeah.
No. That brings us to the last section
of parenting, which is, like, childcare.
We literally just have this conversation because we
(21:22):
were both soups. Mhmm. And we wanna start
a family sometime in the next few years,
and it's like, how is this gonna work?
Both of us need to be work to
work by 6AM.
How are we gonna find childcare? There's nothing
that opens at 6AM.
Nope.
How can we help
our women in the trades
find affordable
(21:43):
childcare
and be able to maintain their job?
It's another barrier that a lot of yes.
Men face it, but a lot of women
are expected
to take care of the childcare. Right? Mhmm.
Alright. Last thing I'm gonna touch on as
far as the job site is not designed
for women,
(22:04):
Porta Johns. Your favorite.
Oh, my my personal mission is to have
a female Porta John on every job site
day one. The blue saunas.
I want a pink sauna.
No. I don't care what color it is.
So there was a survey done that 64%
of people
said that gender friendly restrooms
was a challenge.
(22:25):
Alright. Alright.
Basic
necessity
to have a bathroom
available to you.
Let me explain to
you in detail
why it's so fucking important.
Buckle up.
Okay.
(22:46):
First of all,
I understand we can all use the same
bathroom. I get that. You know what? I
was on board with that for a little
bit.
You wanna know what men don't have? Periods.
It is a reality of construct.
A reality of being a woman in construction.
You're gonna have to deal with your period
at some point. And then we'll dive into
that in a second. The second part is
(23:09):
so with the period part, you want to
have an environment that's cleanly. Men's porta johns
suck.
There is shit on the walls. There is
inappropriate writing usually about women on it. Mhmm.
Well, I will tell you this much. Okay.
And I'm actually really proud of this.
Ever since I moved to
Minnesota, I've seen the cleanest
(23:31):
biffs
I've ever seen.
That's awesome.
But
working in the South
Yeah. That shit looks like a detention seat
with all the writing on it and you
all the art, a very unpleasant art while
you're trying
to do your necessities.
(23:52):
And then
on top of that,
they never
have a a woman
one. No. Rarely. You have to fight for
it. Yeah.
So the first part is the hygiene piece.
Mhmm. The second part of it is
I especially working down in the South in
the summers,
what do a lot of guys do?
(24:13):
Right? They put it on lock,
but they push it out to allow a
breeze to come in. Mhmm.
I've walked on in on three different men
who've used this technique,
and the level of uncomfortability
for me
walking in on a guy
Why he's taking a shit? Yep.
(24:35):
It is just it is so uncomfortable.
I'll tell you this much. As a guy,
to see another dude, it's really uncomfortable.
Like number one, it scares the shit out
of you because you're not expecting it. Usually
you're
just gonna go and you're like, alright, you're
doing your thing in there and you're thinking
(24:55):
about shit or whatever.
So
I've freaked out people. People have freaked out
me.
Like It's a thing that happens, and it's,
like, it's a little bit easier if you're
of the same gender, but, like, all of
a sudden, like, this person will no longer
make eye contact with me, and, like, it
just becomes a whole unnecessary thing.
Now
(25:17):
quickly
Mhmm. Going back to the hygiene piece because
I said I'd come back around it. So
that's why we need to have female bathrooms.
Now going beyond just the female bathroom,
women
bleed once a month. It's a fun fact.
If you have a wife, a sister, a
mom, they've all had periods.
It's a thing.
(25:38):
How do women deal with periods on job
sites?
Don't ask me that question.
Code is uncomfortable.
Tampons,
pads, diva cups.
All of them have blood on them when
you have to change them out. I need
an
(25:59):
adult.
Washing hands.
It you
just even having a hand wash station where
you can just rinse your hands real quick.
Right. Because even, like, going in there, having
somewhere where you can actually get your hands
clean before you have to do something like
that
is important. Think about it. Think about how
you could take care of women on your
job sites. Yes. I have been noticing there's
(26:22):
a lot of,
hand sanitizers
in Porta Johns. They're hand sanitizers. Yes. What
do you think about those?
You think that's enough? I don't I don't
think it is because it's not just
hand sanitizer is about, like, getting bacteria and
cleaning
that piece of it. But it's, like, we're
talking about oils. We're talking about things that
(26:43):
are gonna be on your hands from working
with it, like cement and stuff like that.
Like, if you OSHA requires that you have
a hand wash station available
depending on I think it's the tasks and
the chemicals being used around there. Mhmm.
We should be having hand wash stations on
all of our jobs. We're either too cheap
or we're not willing to deal with
(27:04):
the
Wouldn't that be part of your silica prevention
plans as well? It should be a part
of your Because you do walk around and
there's dust even though you are wearing your
gloves. Yeah. When you take them off, there's
dust everywhere.
You know? I don't know. I don't wanna
go too deep into the ocean because I
don't want ocean coming for us. No. No.
(27:24):
I'm I'm just saying. It's just
that's just kinda like like you said, basic.
Yeah. Basic things. I think that, honestly, everyone
should have a hand wash station available to
them. Like, it's just it's super basic, and
I get the money piece, but I also
think that people are people. Treat them like
people. Give them
basic needs. Meet their basic needs.
(27:46):
Okay. Enough uncomfortability for all those, who are
listening. Yep. Alright.
The last thing we're gonna talk about is
job site culture as a barrier for women
in construction.
So a lot of times, women are viewed
as outsiders. It's like, this is the boys
club.
What are you doing? Are you gonna swear?
Are you gonna be uncomfortable? And then as
(28:06):
soon as they laugh at a joke, that's
not really funny,
and they're just trying to fit in, they're
like, oh, thank goodness. You're cool.
Mhmm.
What do you think about that? Do you
think women are viewed as outsiders?
Well,
I don't view them as outsiders.
Right. But In general. Some men
(28:27):
do.
And
I honestly just
I just think that men should really think
before they speak in job sites.
In general?
You know? Well,
yes. In general, yes.
But I mean, on job sites,
like,
(28:50):
I'll say jokes and whatnot, but the it'll
be, like, between me and someone else.
You can understand the comfortability
of someone else. Right. And we'll keep it,
you know, as a a and b conversation
Yeah. Where that's it.
We're not saying anything inappropriate or anything
degrading or any type of harassment. We're just
(29:10):
you know, we're cracking our jokes. Right? Yeah.
But there are some guys
that go too far.
Oh, yeah. And they say
really fucked up shit.
I know that, like,
not even jokes. Like, I've straight up been
told I don't want a woman on my
job site.
Like, just straight up discrimination.
(29:33):
Yeah. Like, it
and I've also been told those comments of,
like, oh, thank goodness you're cool. Like
Yeah. Thank God you're chill and you understand.
You're like a guy.
And it's so hard too being a woman
on a job site in the sense of,
like, I've had difficulties being like, hey, yo.
You wanna go grab a beer after work?
(29:54):
Because then, like, I think so that you're
asking him out.
Yeah. And it's like, that's not what I
meant. I'm trying to because so many friends
come from the workplace and it's so hard
trying to make friends. It can be difficult.
It's it can be done. I've seen it
be done. But it's difficult trying to navigate
those complexities
as someone who's just entering the industry, especially.
(30:15):
Alright.
Last barrier,
harassment and discrimination. Let's start out with twenty
five percent of women experience harassment frequently or
always,
and sixty six percent have experienced discrimination.
I'm gonna get real with you guys.
I've been harassed on a job site.
(30:37):
I've been in a situation where I feared
for my safety.
I had been told that, you know what?
This individual is gonna be coming back to
site. Make sure you lock your doors. And
I'm like, are you joking or are you
being serious? They're like, we're not joking. Lock
your doors.
And I'm like,
okay. I'm the only woman on job site.
Like, that's that's great.
(30:58):
I've been told
that
guys were thinking about me inappropriately
while with their wife.
I've been told
that
I've been touched inappropriately on-site. I have heard
women who have been I've talked to women
and who have been sexually assaulted on job
sites. Oh, yeah.
(31:19):
It's like it.
Harassment's
not a thing of the past. And you
know what? Are we better than we used
to be? Maybe. I don't know.
Is it good enough? Hell no. We can
do better than
And there goes
Taylor.
All right.
Alright. So now let's get into discrimination.
(31:42):
Okay.
So
take it away.
Okay.
Oh, god.
So
what does good discrimination look like? It means
giving women certain tasks
that you won't give men.
It means saying I don't want a woman
on my job site. It
(32:04):
means being told you're only getting this job
because you're a woman.
It's being told you're only getting this promotion
because all the guys are getting it.
And it's they're like, those are those are
all my personal examples of
discrimination
I've personally experienced and I've heard way worse.
(32:24):
I've heard stories from women who have been
brought to tears with the level of discrimination
they've experienced.
I have discrimination.
Yeah. No. You absolutely do. I've been told
one time me and my father showed up
and we went, you know, did our orientation
and whatnot.
And who are my pipefitters?
Us two.
(32:45):
And the guy looked at me. He said,
oh, your kind's not that great at pipe
fitting.
Discrimination.
And I was like, okay.
We're out of here.
Have you ever seen, like, discrimination or harassment
with regards to women on job sites?
Yeah.
I mean,
don't you remember Walgreens?
(33:06):
That was me. Hi.
And the other women on-site, there were, like,
five of us, I think. Six, maybe. There
was more. Because remember you had the drywallers.
Yeah. That's true. That was a good amount.
And then you had the ones for the
pneumatic and all the machinery. Oh, I wasn't
counting them because they weren't our subcontractors.
They were but, yeah, they experienced a lot
too. They're on-site
(33:26):
with all the other subs.
I think
it's just it's hard because
you fight it and you become jaded.
Like, you can, like, you just be you
you can
it's hard because I'm very passionate about it
because it's just not okay. I don't care
if it's because of race, gender,
(33:47):
age,
sexual orientation. I don't care what it's about.
Harassment and discrimination ruins people lives. Like, I
almost quit construction because of it. And if
I didn't have people looking out for me,
I would've. And I'm pretty sure there's a
lot of women who have quit
because of
it. So these are sort of the barriers
that women face in construction. And you know
(34:08):
what? I'm not saying
that all sucks as a woman. I'm not
gonna lie. Like, I have privilege as a
woman in construction too. I I'm willing to
admit that.
When I go and ask someone, hey. Why
is this being done this way?
People are more than willing to explain it
to me. A guy goes and asks the
same question. What are you, a dumbass? Go
look at the fucking drawings. Like, I Mhmm.
(34:29):
I recognize there are also advantages to being
a woman in construction.
I also recognize that I found love through
construction. I found you.
Hi.
I have made lifelong friends that are down
in Texas and here in Minnesota
because of construction.
Construction is such an incredible industry. I think
the reason these barriers get to me so
much is because it prevents women
(34:52):
from staying in this industry that has so
much to offer. We have one of the
highest
equal pay rates
of any industry. Mhmm. We have
there's so much there's so much pride you
can find in this work. There's a lot
of good, but there's also
a shit ton of bad.
So how can we start turning all this
(35:13):
bad
bad into an opportunity?
I think for individuals, the biggest thing is
speak up when you hear something. Mhmm.
Let's start trying to understand each other and
build bridges, not walls. So get to know
your female coworkers.
Start to talk to them. Start to share
with them. See if they open up to
(35:33):
you. See if there's anything you can do
individually to help them. Right.
But that first part, that speaking up Mhmm.
It hurts so much worse
when someone just stands by and watches.
When that comment was made, I don't want
a woman on my job site, there were
five people at that table.
(35:54):
Not just
regular superintendents, the project managers, I mean, upper
level management there. Mhmm.
And
that comment, yeah, bugged me. I was like,
what the fuck? What hurt way more is
that no one said, hey, that's wrong. That's
not okay. Yeah.
Because you know what?
K. So some people are just stupid and
(36:14):
you realize that and it's ignorant and whatnot.
But what hurts is when people who know
better don't say anything. Mhmm.
So
if there's a joke made,
speak up for that. Yeah.
Because it's not okay.
And then for companies, what do you think
companies can do, Hector?
I mean,
(36:34):
they can create an environment
where women
they can they can create a job site
where women are welcomed.
Where they have Porta Johns on-site day one
for women.
Oh, you know, welcome. And we have this.
We have this. We have this. We have
size,
whatever, small. Proper size. Yeah. Proper sizes, proper
(36:57):
everything. We have maternity wear for you if
you need it.
We have a pump station set. Like, there's
as a company, you have so much power
to take care of your women. Right. So
I think another thing that
companies can do is train their leadership
as far as what to look for. Mhmm.
(37:18):
Because you know what? You don't know
you don't know what to look for until
you know. Unless you've experienced it. Like, we're
giving a harassment
toolbox talk,
and
my my eyes immediately started scanning the crowd
because I know what happens when we start
talking about harassment. Jokes, laughs,
little side elbows. Right? I start looking around,
and I see multiple people laughing.
(37:40):
And I hope, like, one of my other
superintents is gonna stand up and be like,
hey. That's not okay. Like, this isn't a
joke. Right? Mhmm. No one caught it. At
the end, I was told them. I I
I spoke woke up, and I was like,
you know what? You guys, this is not
a fucking joke. These are people's lives at
stake.
Their livelihoods. People quit because of harassment. Mhmm.
People kill themselves because of harassment.
(38:03):
It's not a fucking joke. It's not. And
you know what? I'll respect the one of
the other superintendents came up to me afterwards,
and he's like, I didn't even know that
people were laughing. I'm like, I know what
to look for. That that's the thing. It's
just that It's educating other people. If there's
a toolbox talk going on, look around for
people who are making jokes. Right. Look for
the comments, the sly comments.
(38:25):
Take a look at that because it's there.
So that's kinda what you can do as
individuals and companies. So, overall, today, we touched
on
the barriers women face entering into construction and
then, basically, what you guys can do to
help make this a better place for everyone.
So I think for individuals, my call to
action is
(38:46):
if you hear something, say something. Mhmm. Support
your female coworkers
and just get to know each other.
Audit your job sites
Yeah. For companies. Yeah. Yeah. Pay attention to
your culture.
Pay attention to your workers.
You know?
Don't wait
for
(39:07):
people
to quit or lawsuits or something to happen.
Be proactive. Like, get out there and figure
out what is our culture really like.
Just all you gotta do is just I
feel like it's very important to just sit
there and ask the females.
What do you need? What do you need?
Are we Create an environment where they feel
(39:28):
comfortable enough to speak up, but ask them.
Right.
Right.
No, I, I a % agree. And you
know what? If you have a story as
a woman in construction or as a man
in construction and something you faced,
email us. Mhmm. You can email us at
theblueprintforchange@gmail.com
or my personal email, which is taylor.boylow@theblueprintforchange.com.
(39:51):
And you can find our email at the
website which is linked here. You can leave
us stories.
Leave us anything. We wanna hear from you
guys. Yes.
So with that,
just remember that
this isn't gonna change overnight.
It's gonna take having
multiple conversations, but we're gonna make a difference
by changing construction and culture, one conversation,
(40:15):
one person, one job site at a time.
And don't forget to be the change you
wanna see.
And with
that, we will see you guys next week.
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