The Research Group of the Tradeswomen Taskforce brings together individuals engaged in research which is relevant to women in the building construction trades. This may cover health and safety, harassment, routes into the trades (including apprenticeship), work & family, retention, leadership development, policies that increase the demand for women in construction jobs, or other topics tied into the work and community lives of tradeswomen.
The goals of the group are as follows:
to support the overall mission and policy work of the TWTF
to bring together researchers who are currently engaged in or are interested in working on research topics relevant to women working in the building trades
to build researcher coalitions and engage in discussions and activities supporting recruitment, retention, promotion, and quality of life of tradeswomen.
to support the overall mission and policy work of the Tradeswomen Taskforce to bring together researchers who are currently engaged in or are interested in working on research topics relevant to women working in the building trades to build researcher coalitions and engage in discussions and activities supporting recruitment, retention, promotion, and quality of life of tradeswomen.
Women Build Nations (WBN) is a conference for women who work in the building construction trades; it is attended by about 2000 people each year. The WBN conference is organized by North America’s Building Trades Union (NABTU)’s Tradeswomen’s Committee.
Research Papers:
2021 IWPR Tradeswomen’s Advancement and Retention Survey (Ariane Hegewisch and Eve Mefferd 2021)
Black, Latina, and Afro-Latina Women in Construction Trades Apprenticeships and Employment (Chandra Childers and Lark Jackson 2021)
Research by Maura Kelly on initiatives in Oregon and Washington State
Best Practices Research Briefs (National Center for Women’s Equity in Apprenticeship and Employment)
Portland Metro Region Construction Workforce Market Study (2017)
Unfinished Business: Building Equality for Women in the Construction Trades (Susan Moir et al. 2011)
- IWPR Quick figure “Numbers Matter: Women Working in Construction” – with data for 2015 and 2024, including for construction apprentices.
- IWPR Quick Figure: Chart average hourly wages for women & men who completed apprenticeships in FY 2024, by race/ethnicity – for all apprentices but including some construction data Women Need Better Access to High-Paying Apprenticeships
- IWPR Report on women & apprenticeship – includes a chapter on construction apprenticeships. As Apprenticeships Expand, Breaking Down Occupational Segregation Is Key to Women’s Economic Success IWPR report #C522
- National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER): Research on Women and Construction
Individual states: - Illinois: The Impact of Pre-Apprenticeship Programs in Illinois, Illinois Economic Policy Institute; 2025 https://cwit.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/ilepi-pmcr-impact-of-pre-apprenticeship-programs-in-illinois-final.pdf
- [NB: These two items links can also be accessed through the bullet point on Maura Kelly that is already up on the site] Oregon: “Recruitment and Retention of Apprentices in the Construction Trades” Lindsey Wilkinson & Maura Kelly (data from 2010/11 to 2022/23 ) Factsheet-2024-Recruit-Retention-Apprentices-Construction-Trades.pdf; and
“Evaluation of the Highway Construction Workforce Development Program October 2024” Lindsey Wilkinson and Maura Kelly. 2024-Eval-Highway-Construction-Workforce-Dev-Prog.pdf - Massachusetts: Best practice summaries (https://policygroupontradeswomen.org/best-practices/) , including on Workforce Disparity Studies and the Mass Gaming Commission’s best practice report.
- Wisconsin: “Registered Apprenticeship Programs in Wisconsin’s Construction Industry The Joint Labor-Management Advantage” ; Frank Manzo IV, Jacob Hager, and Robert Bruno (May 2025; 2022 data, with a bit of data on gender) https://lep.illinois.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/PMCR-Registered-Apprenticeship.pdf
For more information contact:
Senior Research Fellow
Institute for Women’s Policy Research
Washington, D.C.
Books By and About Tradeswomen, 1979-2023
Brigid O’Farrell, 2/1/2023
INTERNET
Kick Ass Careers: www.kickasscareers.ca/educationalbooks
Pride and A Paycheck: Sue Doro, www.prideandapaycheck.com/
On Equal Terms Project, Susan Eisenberg, https://onequalter.ms/Class
BOOKS
1.Thick Skin: Field Notes of a Sister in the Brotherhood
Hilary Peach, Anvil Press, 2023
2.Wire Women Lighting It Up
Sharon Srymanski, et al, Hardball Press, 2022
3. Wonder Woman Electric to the Rescue
Molly Martin, Tradeswoman Books, Santa Rosa, CA, 2021
4. Rust, A Memoir of Steel and Grit
Eliese Colette Goldbach, Flatiron Books, New York, 2020
5. High Voltage Women, Breaking Barriers at Seattle City Light,
Ellie Belew, Red Letter Press, Seattle, 2019
6.We’ll Call You If We Need You: Experiences of Women Working Construction
Susan Eisenberg, ILR Press/Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, (1998).
7. We’ll Call You If We Need You, Re-printed with a new introduction 2018
8. Hammer Head, The Making of a Carpenter
Nina Mac Laughlin, W.W. Norton & Company, 2015
9. Mining Coal and Undermining Gender
Jessica Smith Rolston, Rutgers University Press, 2014
10. All I Want Is A Job! Unemployed Women Navigating the Public Workforce System
Mary Gatta, Stanford University Press, California, 2014
11. Journeywoman, Swinging a Hammer in a Man’s World
Kate Braid, Caitlin Press, 2012
12. Dirt Work, An Education in the Woods
Christine Byle, Beacon Press, Boston, 2012
13. Live Wire, Women and Brotherhood in the Electrical Industry
Francine Moccio, Temple University Press, 2009
14. Sisters in the Brotherhoods
Jane LaTour, Palgrave MacMillan, New York, 2008
15. The Women’s Movement Against Sexual Harassment (Select Pages)
Carrie N. Baker, Cambridge University Press, 2008
16. Against the Grain: A Carpentry Manual for Women
Dale McCormick, Encore Books, 2008
17. Working Construction
Kris Paap, ILR Press/Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 2006
18. Freedom Is Not Enough, The Opening of the American Workplace, 2006
Nancy MacLean, Russell Sage Foundation, Harvard University Press
19. Breaking Out of the Pink-Collar Ghetto: Policy Solutions for Non-College Women
Sharon H. Mastracci, M.E. Sharpe, Armonk, NY, 2004
20. Class Action: Lois Jenson and the Landmark Case that Changed Sexual Harassment Law
Clara Bingham & Laura Leedy Gansler, Doubleday, New York, 2002
21. Hard-Hatted Women: Stories of Struggle and Success in the Trades
Molly Martin, Ed. Seal Press, Seattle, 1988, 1997
22. Job Training for Women, The Promise and Limits of Public Policies (Selected Pages)
Sharon L. Harlan and Ronnie J. Steinberg, Temple University Press, 1989
23 Alone in a Crowd: Women in the Trades Tell Their Stories
Jean Reith Schroedel, Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1985
24. Women of Steel, Female Blue-Collar Workers in the Basic Steel Industry
Kay Deaux and Joseph C. Ullman, Praeger Publishers, New York, 1983
25. Blue-Collar Women: Pioneers on the Male Frontier
Mary Lindenstein Walshok, Anchor Press/Doubleday, New York, 1981
26. High-Paying Blue-Collar Jobs for Women
Larry J. Ricci, Ballentine Books, New York, 1981
27. Blue-Collar Jobs or Women
Muriel Lederer, E.P. Dutton, New York, 1979
Poetry
28. Stanley’s Girl, Poems
Susan Eisenberg, ILR Press/Cornell University Press, 2018.
29. Pioneering, Poems from the Construction Site
Susan Eisenberg, ILR Press/Cornell University Press, 1998
30. Perpetual Care
Susan Eisenberg, Third Rail Press, 2016
31. Turning Left to the Ladies
Kate Braid, Palimpsest Press, Ontario, Canada, 2009
32. Sugar String
Sue Doro, Fast Print, Oakland, CA, 2008;
33. Blue Collar Goodbyes (Hardback and paperback)
Sue Doro, Papier-Mache Press, Watsonville, CA, 1992
34. Heart, Home & Hard Hats,
Sue Doro, Midwest Villages & Voices, Minneapolis, MN, 1986