Celebrating Opportunities for Professional Women in Building 2021

September 13, 2021

The Building Industry Association of Washington joins the National Association of Home Builders and local home building associations in celebrating National Professional Women in Building Week, Sept. 13-17.

While women make up roughly 47% of the general workforce in the US, they represent just 10.3% of the construction workforce, according to the most recent numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Yet, when it comes to opportunity, construction offers dramatically better pay equity than the general workforce. The BLS reports women on average make only 81% as much as men in all industries. However, women in construction earn 99.1 % of what their male counterparts do—the highest percentage listed in the latest BLS report about women in workforce.

According to the Association for Career and Technical Education, construction is one of the top 5 industries for jobs that pay a median income of $55,000+ without a bachelor’s degree. As of 2020, the BLS reported construction managers making a median wage of more than $95,000. To learn more about opportunities in construction, visit BIAW’s Workforce Development page.

Professional Women in Building in Washington

This week, we’re spotlighting professional women in building from across Washington, like Miriam Villiard (pictured above), owner of Heritage Builders NW, LLC and first VP of the Kitsap Building Association. We’ll be celebrating along with our two local Professional Women in Building Councils at the Olympia Master Builders and the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBAKS).