COLUMBUS, Ind. — A group of high school students got a peek at a major construction site Friday — as well as some insight into careers that might be in their future.
About 30 female students from Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. C4 construction and architecture/civil engineering classes were given a hard hat tour of NexusPark and heard from a panel of leaders on the project on Friday. C4 team leader Autumne Streeval said since a number of lead architects and contractors on the project are women, the trip was meant to help female students to imagine themselves in these careers.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women make up almost 47% of the country’s overall workforce but only 11% of the construction workforce and 26% for that of architectural, engineering and related services.
“Construction tends to be a career with more males,” said Streeval. “Showcasing successful women in these pathways helps females break that perception and can ultimately create a more balanced workforce within that occupation.”
Project Manager Katy Waddell with Turner Construction, which is Columbus Regional Health’s general contractor on the project, said that it was a male friend who encouraged her to consider going into the construction industry. When she first entered the field, there were some women in it, but a lower percentage than there are today.
“If I walked into a room, there were definitely times where I was the only woman there,” she said. She added that, at the time, it may have been more common to see women on the design side of projects than on the construction side.
Columbus East senior Allison Griggs expressed appreciation for the tour of NexusPark.
“I think it’s really good for the community to push females into this field, because it’s good for us to stand out and put ourselves out there in a male-dominated field,” she said.
For more on this story, and more photos, see Saturday’s Republic.
