“Women in construction day” aims to break gender roles
MARQUETTE– The construction industry is one that is male-dominated; however NMU and several other groups are working to break this trend.
NMU’s Jacobetti Complex held an event for middle-school girls earlier today, with participants getting hands-on experience with things like welding, woodwork, and virtual reality.
“So we’re hoping that by introducing at a young age, they may consider maybe taking the wood-shop class in high school, or building trades’ class, and then see if it’s something that really interests them. As far as career exploration for anything, for any child, it’s good to just explore different opportunities and either rule it out, or decide if you do want to explore it even farther,” says Heidi Blanck, associate professor in the construction management department at NMU, and event coordinator.
About 90 students from 8 different schools across the UP attended the event.
The event is also open to high school students in the fall semester.
Currently, only about 8% of workers in the construction industry are women.