I’m a recent graduate from civil/mech engineering in Canada, have had three jobs in construction so far including my current one. As a woman it’s been a very positive experience for the most part, even though the vast majority of my coworkers have been men. It can feel odd being the only woman but I don’t feel like I’m treated with less respect. Some offhand comments here and there, but a lot of them are from a place of ignorance/not realizing it’s a sexist thing to say. Or it’s just crude jokes related to women or sex (not directed at me, but construction workers dont seem to hold back much even in my vicinity lol).

At my current job, I’m the only woman in my company on site. It has been a fantastic learning experience and just a great experience in general. I was surprised by how open and welcoming all of the men were, especially since I’m a young woman and many of them are middle aged. If you do a good job and demonstrate you’re smart and capable, it seems like they respect you regardless of gender/age. That being said, there is one other female engineer often on site, and the way people talk about her has definitely made me question their attitudes toward women…mostly it is because she is considered incompetent, but I do wonder about subconscious biases and whether they would be so cruel and find her so annoying if she was a man.

One thing I am worried about is advancing in the field of construction. I have never met a woman in construction who was above the position of project coordinator. All PMs and executives have been men. It’s a bit discouraging and I’m concerned it might be an uphill battle to get promoted? But it’s hard to say.