TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Erie 1 BOCES and the Buffalo chapter of the National Association Of Women In Construction partnered for a "Girls Day in the Trades" event on Wednesday.
The event had a panel discussion with female construction workers and a round table for one-on-one discussions, as women made up only 11-percent of the construction workforce in 2022.
"Events like this, are so important so we can reach out to the younger generations and show them how wonderful a career in this industry can be and encourage them to stay with it and come join us," said Michelle Gerace, Regional Service Manager for John W. Danforth, a steel fabrication and contracting company in Tonawanda.
According to the National Association Of Women In Construction, women earn, on average, 83% of what men make in all fields. But that gap is much narrower in construction - with women earning 95-point-five percent of what men earn.
Female project managers want to make sure girls are not afraid of making their mark in a male-dominated field.
"It is so rewarding in the end, just knowing that you can do it, proving yourself and others wrong and going above and beyond everything else, so it really does pay off in the end," said Breanna Stapleton, a Project Manager for D.V. Brown & Associates.
The female students also are learning about the fields they want to be in through networking and seeing the job sites firsthand.
"In my class there's only four girls and it's a little intimidating because the guys can be kind of out there, so this was really cool to see that there's a lot more of us and more than four of us," said 16-year-old Isabella Decker from Alden High School.
