Tradeswomen and White House Representatives Meet About Women in Construction

While 2023 saw the highest participation rate of women in the workforce to date, when it comes to construction, women make up just 14% of that industry's workforce and only 4% of the trades. In an effort to explore how the Biden-Harris administration can help women enter the construction industry and succeed in construction jobs, National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard, Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden, and Investing in America Chief Economist Heather Boushey met on Monday, Dec. 6, with a group of union tradeswomen and North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) representatives to discuss opportunities and challenges for women in the skilled construction trades. Topics discussed included child care and other supportive services, expanding pre-apprenticeship programs, strengthening mentoring initiatives, and confronting discrimination and harassment, according to a White House release.

Participants noted that President Biden’s Investing in America agenda creates an opportunity to attract more women into the construction sector while meeting the demand for highly skilled workers. Recruiting and retaining women for these jobs in the trades is critical to rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, expanding the manufacturing boom, and accelerating the clean energy revolution.

The Biden-Harris Administration is promoting supportive services, such as child care, and launched five Workforce Hubs across the country over the last year to create new pipelines to good jobs created by public and private sector investments mobilized by the Administration’s economic agenda. President Biden has also secured historic funding to expand and diversify registered apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs, doubling down on programs that we know work to bring more people into the trades. ...

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