… (and other traditionally male professional trades) …
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 2% of electricians are female. And, according to FamilyHandyman.com, women make up less than 10% of skilled trade jobs in the U.S. This low representation in trade professions is not limited to the United States, or to electricians. According to BBC News, and the U.K’s Office of National Statistics, the percent of female plumbers is tiny 2,700 (1.9%) in 2021 and 3,500 (2.4%) in 2022. A number of U.S. trends may be impetus to change these stats.
The American Welding Society predicts a need for 400,000 more welders by 2024…. next year. And, HVAC and electrician jobs are expected to grow by 14%. Demand is converging with nonprofits, advocacy groups and government agencies finding new ways to recruit women into trade fields. Simultaneously the National Kitchen and Bathroom Association’s career survey of high school students found interest in skilled trade careers is almost equal for males and females. Of highest interest for females with high school class and training programs is remodeling and renovation.
Danielle Renwick reported in an article for an article for Nexus Media News, that the “green boom” is also fueling a need and opportunity to attract more women to become electricians. According to the electrification nonprofit Rewiring America, the U.S will need 1 million new electricians to install solar panels, heat pumps and electrical vehicle charging stations to help the country attain our climate goals.
Bill McKibben, author and journalist, put it most succinctly in a New York Times interview when he said, “If you know a young person who wants to do something that is going to help the world and want to make a good living at the same time, tell them to become an electrician.”
Most of us are familiar with the poster image of “Rosie the Riveter” from World War II – hair tied up in a bandana, overalls, rolled up sleeves and a flexed bicep- the cultural icon for women stepping up to work factories and shipyards. Well, the timing right now is more or less déjà vu.
As Danielle Renwick points out in her article getting women working as electricians will not only help fill crucial labor need, it will also help close a gender wage gap. According to her reporting the median pay for an electrician is $60,000 a year compared to $45,000 for other occupations. Nd based on data from Bureau of Labor Statistics master electricians earn six-figure incomes.
Many women who faced and overcame hurdles in the field are stepping in to encourage, mentor and facilitate women taking on careers as electricians . Allie Perez is a plumber and fonder of Texas Women in the Trades. Connie Ashbrook, a retired construction worker is co-chair of the National Taskforce on Tradewomen’s Issues. Tonya Hicks, who started out as an apprentice, has since founded her company Power Solutions. She has a staff of 9 specializing in renewable energy projects and home retrofits. She also runs Women Do Everything, a networking group for women in STEM fields and blue-collar male dominated industries.
I would be remiss if I did not point out that women entering traditionally male and union dominated fields can face difficult, unpleasant and sometimes even frightening experiences. Cora Saxton, who became an electrician at 49 recalls experiences like people walking past her to find the project “boss,” when she was the boss. There were times when co-workers literally took tools out of her hands. And as an apprentice Tonya Hicks was relegated to cleaning on-site office trailers. Some women have encounter much worse; sexual harassment, threatening notes in their lockers, or someone urinating in their hardhat.
In an interview Emily Pilloton, founder and executive director of Garage Girls, a nonprofit design-and-build program dedicated to creating a work space for females, told FamilyHandyman.com she tells those in her program, “You can always find someone to look to, who looks like you, who has a story like you and who has walked the path before you so you don’t think you’re doing it for the first time alone.’
In addition to those I have already mentioned other examples of organizations supporting and marketing to females for electrician and other trade professions are Girls Build, Tools and Tiara, the Women In Trucking Association, and support networks like Professional Women in Construction.