Why are there so few women in our trade?

[tonyou812]

OK Ill go out on a limb, the reason you dont see woman in the trades is because they are smart enough to leave it to us fools to do it. I can remember a many days lugging 2" rigid up and down flights of stairs in a certain chemical plant because we were not allowed to cut and thread on site. After a few days of this grueling and almost masochistic work I wondered if God was punishing me for something. Not fun at all.
Meanwhile my wife is pulling in almost 6 figures on a three to four day work week( with an incredibal health care package, and bonuses to boot) in a nice clean hospital. Granted she is literally helping keep people alive but she isnt breaking her back (literally) doing it either.

 

[tonyou812]

Why does every guy in here feel they need to talk up woman in the trades? I dont get it. I dont have anything against any woman and am in no way a chauvinist. But its so indicative of the times. Everyone is so afraid of being labeled a male chauvinist that they dont speak their minds. We are all turning into puppets that only say what we think people want to hear or what is accepted.
Listen its a fact that you almost never see woman in construction and if you do its in minute amounts. So why is everyone bringing out the " OH i know plenty of hard working woman in the........" God for once people lets keep it real. Be honest. There are no brownie points here. God is to busy to read these post for those of you that beileve.
And let me just repeat, I love and respect all woman and have nothing but respect for anyone man or woman that works an honest days work to support themselves and their families.

 

[Minuteman]

I don't know about the others, but I WAS keeping it real. Now that I think about it, I did work with 2 lady apprentices at different times, that I had my doubts about that they would make it. But all the women JW's that I have known seem to have it together. Plain and simple.

 

[Minuteman]

I will also say, that I have worked about half my years in open shop and half union. All but one of the women electricians I worked with were union. Might be something to that.

 

[tonyou812]

I will also say, that I have worked about half my years in open shop and half union. All but one of the women electricians I worked with were union. Might be something to that.

Yea its called affirmative action and "quotas"

 

[Minuteman]

Yea its called affirmative action and "quotas"

Little doubt.

 

[tonyou812]

Maybe its just Jersey girls that wont do that kind of work. Jersey girls can be very high brow if you know what I mean. Nose up in the air at everything and everyone. Sometimes I wonder how I managed to bag my wife!

 

[Karl H]

Well, I just asked my wife ."Why don't more women
work in the Electrical Trades?" Her response;"Every
electrician I know is annoying!" For the life of me
I can't figure out where she got that opinion,
I'm the only electrician she knows.

 

[Minuteman]

She may be on to something.

 

[quogueelectric]

Well, I just asked my wife ."Why don't more women
work in the Electrical Trades?" Her response;"Every
electrician I know is annoying!" For the life of me
I can't figure out where she got that opinion,
I'm the only electrician she knows.

My wife agrees. I just asked her too.

 

[brother]

Ive worked with some women, both good and BAD!! I really enjoyed working with the good ones, they were smart and good workers. the BAD ones I would NEVER work with again because of the attitude. Some felt they had to be more 'mannish' to actually work in the trade.

As for why there are not that many, I hate to say it, but from my perspective its because of alot of the physical work we do and some of the men just sexist, even those they claim they are not. Personally Ive seen just too much discrimination, sorry to say this but im just being REAL.

 

[iwire]

Why does every guy in here feel they need to talk up woman in the trades? I dont get it. I dont have anything against any woman and am in no way a chauvinist. But its so indicative of the times. Everyone is so afraid of being labeled a male chauvinist that they dont speak their minds. We are all turning into puppets that only say what we think people want to hear or what is accepted.

Tony that definitely applies at this forum you will get shut down here, watch what you post.

 

[RHJohnson]

First female electrician I ever saw in the field was one I hired about 30 years ago as an electrician apprentice. The only complaint I ever heard from any of the 22 guy's on the crew was: if you are going to hire a girl would you hire a pretty one the next time. She worked out great, but 3 years later decided to move on to a different career field.
Years later I was working on a power plant in Virginia, as a start up electrical engineer, several electricians did check out and testing under my direction.
One was a lady named Lynn, and I have to say she not only impressed me, but everyone else. She was one of the best electricians on that job of more than 50 electricians - even when she had been running conduit.
Having said that....I've known at least 15 other females who could not do the more difficult work, and were given only the easiest of jobs - which made the other electricians pretty sore. The old timers who were usually given those type of jobs were out of luck.....

 

[bikeindy]

Personally I think this is a stupid question. It is like asking why girls don't build as many tree houses as boys or why the don't like things that go boom as much. UHH HELLO they are girls we are boys. Or did the human race suddenly turn asexual while I was typing?

And I agree with Tony.

 

[bikeindy]

I don't know about the others, but I WAS keeping it real. Now that I think about it, I did work with 2 lady apprentices at different times, that I had my doubts about that they would make it. But all the women JW's that I have known seem to have it together. Plain and simple.

OK I'll keep it real. I was in the USAF and worked with 6 different women in my field not one of them was worth keeping around. That being said only half the men i worked with were worth keeping around.

 

[360Youth]

I will go ahead and post because I see this one getting closed pretty soon. I hvae only known two female electricians that I can recall. One was in a shop at a power plant I worked at when in high school (MD) and another that my brother is dating right now (DC). My bossses daughter works with us and has helped out in the field on ocassion and we contemplated having her in the field more often because she is good and works hard. I do not have any educated statistical reasons for the trend, but if I had to guess I would say about 20% physical nature of the work, 20% misc., and 60% atmosphere. You do not see many women in the construction trade period, although I do know quite a few women painters. I have no problem working working with or for women, and if I had a daughter or one of my nieces wanted to get into the trade I would support them completely, but I also completely understand that women may not be that excited about a particular field that is so heavily filled with testosterone. :smile: No stats or opinions apply 100% of the time.

 

[growler]

Seems to me that if (roughly) half the population is female, there would be more working in the craft than what actually is. I'm curious if anyone has any insight as to why there are so few women in this trade?

Women prefer jobs that are secure over the long run and construcion work just isn't all that secure. Men like to take chances and hope for the best and women tend to be more realistic.

Half the guys that get into electrical work probably won't be there by age 40. They either get burned out doing residential work or get hurt on the job or just get tired of being layed off. Women are more likey to have the secure job and secure benenfits even if the man brings in more money from time to time.

Men are short sighted and women look more at the long run. How many 60 year old women do think would still be out there twisting wire nuts. They know this and look for a more secure profession, one they can do until rertirement.

 

[ishium 80439]

Something else just occured to me. I worked at a shop once that employed a woman parts runner. She was in her early 20's on break from college and attractive. Whenever she came to the jobsite it was pathetic to watch some of the younger guys (and even some of the older ones) puff up like a rooster and try in one way or another to impress her. When that truck drove up there were some guys that all of a sudden remembered something they needed to do outside. When she left, it took a bit to get everyone back in the game (smoke breaks etc).

So this could be a reason why some are reluctant to hire women, because men are dogs and women would be a distraction.

 

[peter d]

So this could be a reason why some are reluctant to hire women, because men are dogs and women would be a distraction.

That is an excellent point. From a business owners perspective, having a woman on the job may be more of a hindrance than a help to the bottom line, productivity wise.

 

[LittleD]

We work with outside contractors all the time. I've been hit on by some & I've gotten attitudes from others. Some will talk crap just to see if they can get a rise out of me. I DO NOT GIVE THEM THE SATISFACTION.

If someone crosses the line, I DEAL WITH THEM. I don't go running to human resources. I know what I came into & I deal with it. I will walk away if I hear something that makes me feel uncomfortable. I can tell you, I've only had to do this once in the 3yrs I've been on the job. Some guy was being extremely nasty talking about some girl he picked up the night before. Some of the guys were even shocked by this idiot!!!

As far as strength, I don't claim to be as strong as the men, I never will be. At 5'2" and 110lbs I'm pretty damn strong though. I am also the first one to crawl into tight spaces & go to work! We all have our weaknesses and we all need help from time to time.

I step up to the plate & work the long hours. I do more than my share of coming in at 3am to switch out a line and stay til 8 or 9pm to switch it back! I've worked Christmas, New Years and been called in on Thanksgiving after cooking and entertaining the whole day.

Oh and we now have 2 female line women on the job. One is a body builder and is stronger that some of the 25yr olds! I kid you not!

I love my job, I really do. My biggest fear, and someone did bring this up, is that I'm not sure how it will be when I am older. I've met some of the retired substation operator/mechanics and they are pretty beat. But heck, the job must be great, some of them had 30 to 40yrs in it!