Women make up only 10% of the construction industry. A new Houston conference aims to inspire girls to join
Jacob Carpenter
Oct. 17, 2019 Updated: Oct. 17, 2019 7:53 p.m.
Karla Cedillo walked into Thursday’s She Builds Houston construction conference expecting to hear mostly from men, a reasonable assumption given that men are about 90 percent of the industry’s workforce.
Instead, Cedillo, a senior at Aldine Senior High School, found dozens of women employed by some of the city’s leading construction companies, who implored her and about 1,000 other girls to consider careers in the fast-growing and well-paying industry. Donning a yellow vest and sticker-dotted hard hat, Cedillo learned about opportunities in the industry from female professionals before grabbing a DeWalt screw gun and getting tips on hanging drywall.
Read how Blanson CTE HS Student Jocelyn Zarazua explains how this industry relates to her future.
