Women are breaking down barriers in male-dominated industries like construction and maritime, with experienced professionals like 59-year-old crane operator Farkhana Safargaleeva leading the way.

Women comprise 10.9% of construction industry employees, but can earn high incomes, with construction managers averaging $98,500 in 2021.

The construction industry is working to recruit more women, with events like the Transportation & Construction GIRL Day promoting careers to them.

Women in construction face harassment and unequal treatment, but initiatives like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill aim to increase diversity and inclusion.

Mentorship programs, like the 12-month Sisters in Mining program, support women's careers in male-dominated industries.

Diverse teams drive innovation and growth, prompting companies to support women in non-traditional roles like crane operating through diversity initiatives.

Inclusion and diversity can increase earnings by 25% or more, prompting companies to implement diversity strategies and councils.

Leadership support and training programs are essential for women in non-traditional roles.

The federal government has given Illinois $1 million to increase women in construction and boost industry diversity.

Women earn 83 cents for every dollar earned by White men, with women of color earning even less.

China's shrinking workforce is offset in part by a growing number of women in heavy industry, with women making up 14% of construction workers.

Virtual reality simulators can provide hyperrealistic training for crane operators, increasing their proficiency and reducing equipment damage risk.

Training centers like the one in Assiut provide heavy equipment training, including loader licenses, for women.

West Virginia Women Work offers tuition-free training in construction skills for entry-level positions.

Tata Steel is promoting diversity by assigning female operators as Stacker-cum Reclaimer operators for the first time.

Women are breaking down barriers in male-dominated industries like construction and maritime, with experienced professionals like 59-year-old crane operator Farkhana Safargaleeva leading the way.

Title:

Content: Women in Male Occupations
8 March
23: 08 4 March 2022
Farkhana Safargaleeva immediately after school, together with her friend, decided to enter the crane operator.
Romance or inner call - what pulled the fragile girl to manage the crane, build houses and make panels, she does not know.
She said she liked the job from the start.
Farkhana Safargaleeva, crane operator of “Unity ” LLP:
— We graduated from the GPTU, in the direction of us were sent here to the precast.
She worked here for 15 years, decree, perestroika, then went to other construction works.
I already as 5 years returned to this concrete concrete, my heart was sick for my crane, I love, I love this crane very much, I love working on the crane.
But, I did not even expect that I was before retirement, I am already 59 years old, I will return here.
How many houses were erected in the region with the help of skillful actions and many years of experience of crane operator Farkhana Safargaleeva, it is simply impossible to count.
Such qualities as calmness and attentiveness help in the work.
Her burning eyes are seen not only in the profession, but also at home.
A husband, a daughter and a small grandson will all gather at the festive table on March 8.
Farkhana Safargaleyeva ’ s relatives support her interest and success.
Anastasia Kuznetsova, correspondent:
— A woman is calm and brisk, vulnerable and warlike, tender and strong.
Modern women break stereotypes, showing the world how they can create and create.
In the “male ” professions, among other things.
"Unity" LLP produces reinforced concrete products.
The company employs 152 people, including 25 women.
Chief engineer Andrei Nekrasov says that they skillfully show their skills.
Andrey Nekrasov, Chief Engineer of Unity LLP:
— Our company employs a large number of women who are excellent professionals and faithfully perform their work.
It passed, one might say, Crimea and Rome here.
She is an excellent professional, she transfers her skills to young professionals.
Another representative of the fair sex in LLP "Unity" - Natalia Danilova.
She's a compressor operator.
Working in the construction industry is her dream.
And it came true.
All my life I have dreamed of working in the construction industry.
16 she devoted to ensuring the continuous operation of the enterprise.
Natalia Danilova, operator of the compressor unit of “Unity ” LLP:
I have been working here since 2006 for 16 years.
I like my job here.
We supply cement so that our production does not stand, pour slabs, pour panels.
The most important thing is health, so that the world will be around 03.54 and to finish until my retirement – that ’ s my wish.
On the eve of the holiday on March 8, according to tradition, all the men of the enterprise will set a table and give gifts to women who give their strength to such a difficult, but so beloved for them work.
Anastasia Kuznetsova
Read also
"Miss Pampushka 2022".
Convicted prisoners beauty contest held at EU institution 164 / 6
On the eve of March 8, the Council of Mothers congratulated the deputy akim of the region Gani Nygymetov
Women of different professions were congratulated on March 8

How has the gender balance in the construction and maritime industries changed over recent decades?

How has the level of discrimination for female employees in the construction industry changed over recent decades?

Women comprise 10.9% of construction industry employees, but can earn high incomes, with construction managers averaging $98,500 in 2021.

Title:

Content: By Conor McCue

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) – Transportation & Construction GIRL Day returned for the fourth time in five years after the pandemic put it on pause in 2020. The annual event, which is free to attend for girls, is put on by the HOYA Foundation.

It’s geared toward educating young women about careers in the male-dominated construction and transportation industries.

(credit: CBS)

READ MORE: Ptarmigan Fire: Hundreds Remain Evacuated, New Evacuations Ordered After Wildfire Started Near Homes In Summit County

Through the trial and error of flying a drone for the first time, Lilly Gonzales opened her eyes to new possibilities at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds Tuesday.

“I almost got one stuck in a tree!” she exclaimed.

Other firsts for the 9 year old included welding and making concrete. Never had her hopes of becoming an electrician or engineer seemed so attainable.

“I just like taking things apart and rebuilding creative things, especially in Minecraft. It’s like my favorite game,” Gonzales said.

“This kind of shows me that I can do anything.”

Gonzales was one of hundreds of girls and young women who attended Transportation & Construction GIRL Day. The event is meant to show young women, ages 8 to 23, who’ve never considered a career in the transportation and construction industry a possibility.

READ MORE: Former Idaho Springs Police Officer, Nicholas Hanning, Faces Civil Lawsuit For Separate Controversial Arrest

“Last year, the construction and transportation industry was an essential industry, so we kept working, and we still need more employees,” said Keller Hayes, Director of Transportation & Construction GIRL.

(credit: CBS)

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women made up only 10.9 percent employees in the construction industry in 2020, an increase from 2016, when the figure was 8%.

Hayes says the opportunities are aplenty for women and the jobs can be lucrative. Part of her organization’s mission is to relay that message to a younger audience.

“There’s so many opportunities and they get paid well,” Hayes said. “In the construction industry, you get 99 cents on the dollar for comparable work to men, in comparison to 82 cents on the dollar.”

On Tuesday, employers hosted dozens of hands-on exhibits in the hopes of creating a lasting spark for attendees. The next challenge will be to nurture it so more new faces pursue a career down the road.

“Girls can do anything, even when it’s hard,” said Gonzales.

MORE NEWS: Denver Weather: Cooler Temperatures Settle In Quickly

“We want you in this industry, how can we help support you in getting you into this industry,” Hayes said.

Conor McCue

Why are construction and maritime industries more popular with women nowadays?

The construction industry is working to recruit more women, with events like the Transportation & Construction GIRL Day promoting careers to them.

How has the gender balance in the construction and maritime industries changed over recent decades?

How has the level of discrimination for female employees in the construction industry changed over recent decades?

What are construction and maritime companies doing to promote and aid women in the field?

Women in construction face harassment and unequal treatment, but initiatives like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill aim to increase diversity and inclusion.

Title:

Content: Daytime Plus
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Women break into construction sector to fill labour shortages
Bloomberg: The number of construction workers in the United States exceeded 1 million in May last year, for the first time since data collection began in 1964, and the share of women among workers in the sector reached its highest level at 14.1 percent last month.
About a third of construction workers in the United States are Hispanic, according to BLS.
Cerato herself got to know the industry at an early age through her Mexican immigrant father, saying, “I used to go out to work with him, and I never saw anyone like me, so it never occurred to me that it could be a viable career path. ”
The presence of another Latina as a mentor made a big difference, she said, adding: “That ’ s why our representation is important. ”
One of the women is Andy Dirkschneider, who negotiates millions of dollars in loans to buy land for her family ’ s homebuilder, but sometimes vendors call her “petite ” and ask to speak to the man in charge.
Dirkschneider, 32, who heads Brookline Homes in Charlotte, said: “I tell them I ’ m the man in charge.
A young blonde girl doing this job confuses everyone.
It ’ s frustrating, but it can ’ t be allowed to. ”
Dirkschneider and thousands of women like her are breaking through the walls of the professions.
It is not brittle, it is concrete.
The field of construction has always been a world for men, from handicrafts such as construction and carpentry to the offices of developers and executive companies.
The accelerating wave of retirement of the 1960s and 1970s generation has exacerbated the industry ’ s chronic labor shortage.
Construction jobs totaled 440,000 in April, the highest in Bureau of Labor Statistics records that began in 2001.
Aryan Higuish, a senior researcher and fellow at the Women ’ s Policy Research Institute, said there is room for growth, because the construction sector ’ s historical dependence on men now risks constraining its growth.
The institute estimates that about a third of women in the industry work in deals, and their share across sectors such as painting and carpentry is still as small as a tenth, though Higuish believes it will continue to grow.
This is partly because of the need for labor and because states and local administrations want to see more diversity in companies when they are awarded contracts.
Patrice Haley, of the diversity leadership team at construction giant DPR, said: “In this industry, we can ’ t dismiss people on the basis of gender.
“A lot of veterans are retiring, and we can ’ t leave any of the doors closed. ”
One of the temptations for women in the industry, Haley said, was to see what they were building right in front of their eyes, and she had started working in the industry in a manual job that required wearing a helmet and toe boots.
She said, "I can say I worked on this and built that."
There ’ s also the temptation to pay better than many other jobs that don ’ t require a college degree: In 2021, the average salary of an electrician was $59,000 and $98,500 for a construction manager, according to U.S. Department of Labor data.
Taqiya Wallace, 35, works for a large energy company in tracking construction project documents.
But she dreams of getting a license as a general contractor to start working on her own.
In June, I began studying building skills in a 16-week curriculum organized by Goodwill Industries in South Piedmont, Charlotte, where I learned to read blueprints and handle equipment.
If all goes according to plan, she will finish training with four industry certifications.
Although Goodwill does not target women, its organizers say a group of 15 people who completed training last year were all women, about half of whom went on to work in industry jobs.
Wallace, who was the first to receive a college degree in her family, sees getting a contractor ’ s license and hanging a sign for her company as a way to build the wealth she can bequeath to her family.
She said, “I want to be able to tell them this is our legacy. ”
Harassment and discrimination
Despite these encouraging trends, the sector still has a long way to go.
About a quarter of respondents to a survey of 2,635 workers conducted by the Women ’ s Policy Research Institute last year said they had experienced sexual harassment or repeated harassment on the basis of sex.
Half of those surveyed said that their lack of equal treatment by men was frequent or persistent.
Jenny Parker stood at a construction site in High Point, North Carolina, on a very hot day in July, grabbing a paper cup with an iced drink as she looked at her sawdust, paint and sweat stained shirt and said, "I love this.
It took me 10 years to get here. ”
Parker, who spent nine years in the Marine Corps, was upset by the managerial jobs she worked so she could pay her bills while raising her daughter, so she started working hard in real estate.
She signed up for training in building skills so she could repair the rental housing she owned.
At High Point, Parker received hands-on training in building house structures, performing stone work, and installing roofs.
She said she was able to work in partnership with the men on the team, but there were tensions at times, adding: “To be female in a male environment you have to prove yourself and work twice as hard, ” noting that some men do not accept instructions from a woman.
She said, “It ’ s a mindset that men should overcome. ”
Nicole Goulsby, owner of Red Ladder Residential, a construction company in Raleigh, North Carolina, recalls that when she started running worksites, some men ignored her when she addressed them.
She said her experience of bias faded when she distributed her signed paychecks, and she now notes that there are more women on the crews she contracts, whether they ride boards or paint.
Golsby explained that women build relationships easily and are more attentive to details, making them suitable for her field of work.
Nicknamed “Becky Nicky, ” Golsby said,“ I see things that no one else sees, and that ’ s why I do my job well. ”
The construction industry is also attracting more minority women.
An analysis by the Women ’ s Policy Research Institute found that the number of female construction apprentices between 2016 and 2019 nearly doubled, while Latinas recorded the largest increase of any race.
If we look at Ferridiana Cerato who graduated from college in 2020 with a double major in history and Spanish without being able to find any job that would enable her to benefit from her education well, she decided to try construction management.
Cerato took courses and received some certificates, including a certificate in welding.
She is now a project engineer in Indianapolis.
The job requires toughness, the 24-year-old says, with a lot of conversational “that doesn ’ t conform to HR rules ” and dealing with cynicism at times.
Cerato is one of three women in a team of nine managers and the only Latina among them.
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What are governments doing to promote and aid women in construction or maritime industries?

What challenges do women in the construction and maritime  industries face?

sexual and workplace harrassment
attitudinal biases at work

Mentorship programs, like the 12-month Sisters in Mining program, support women's careers in male-dominated industries.

Title:

Content: Thiess sisters doing it for themselves

Launched in 2013, Thiess’ Sisters in Mining (SIM) program enables Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to transition into the mining sector as trainee haul truck drivers.

The SIM Program was born out of Thiess’ reconciliation commitment to ensuring the economic benefits of mining contribute to, and empower, the culture and social aspirations of our First Nations peoples through the creation of long-term employment opportunities.

The program begins with a seven-day, pre-employment program to kick start their career in the mining industry. Building on participants’ prior experience and their preferred learning style, the 12-month program integrates on the job coaching, training in haul truck simulators, as well as structured learning through a vocational education and training (VET) course in Surface Extraction Operations.

Studies undertaken during the traineeship contribute to a nationally recognised qualification in Surface Extraction Operations.

Following successful completion of the program, most women take up permanent full-time positions as haul truck operators. In addition to the career-enhancing technical competencies acquired, participants receive important life-skills training and mentoring throughout the traineeship.

Now in its 10th year, the program has been rolled out across central Queensland projects including Curragh North, Lake Vermont, Caval Ridge and Peak Downs. The program has supported 75 women through to successful completion, with around 90 per cent of those women offered employment at Thiess.

The program is seen as pivotal to increasing the number of women in a traditionally male-dominated mining and resources industry.

Program partner, the Department of Seniors, Disability Services and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships (DSDSATSIP), sees the lasting value the Sisters in Mining program brings.

Program Manager Rockhampton Central Queensland Region for DSDSATSIP, David Thompson, said beyond creating resource sector jobs, it empowers women to pursue aspirations in work and beyond, as role models and community leaders.

“We are proud to play a part in connecting Queenslanders with lifechanging opportunities,” he said.

Through sustainable employment, Sisters in Mining transforms lives and communities and brings valued team members and real benefits to our business.

About Ray Chan

Editor of industrial titles and mastheads with Prime Creative Media. Publications include Rail Express and Australian Mining (web content).

To keep up to date with Australian Mining, subscribe to our free email newsletters delivered straight to your inbox. Click here.

What are construction and maritime companies doing to promote and aid women in the field?

What are governments doing to promote and aid women in construction or maritime industries?

educational programs
mentorship opportunities

Diverse teams drive innovation and growth, prompting companies to support women in non-traditional roles like crane operating through diversity initiatives.

Title:

Content: Subscribe to Entrepreneur for $5
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2022, diverse teams will be key to the development of companies

Inclusion and diversity in work teams drives innovation. We are stronger when we run a business that cares about its communities and the world we live in. Let's toast 2022 with more opportunities for women.

By
This article was translated from our Spanish edition using AI technologies. Errors may exist due to this process. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

In the early 1990s the auto industry unveiled an innovation in car manufacturing: the airbag . By October 2001, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that airbags had saved more than 7,500 lives. But these first airbags also killed 195 people during this period, mostly children and women under 1.70 meters. The force of the airbag impact on small bodies was brutal and until then this data was unknown.

The reason? In those years, airbag tests were done with mannequins with exclusively male characteristics and not with measurements of shorter female bodies or children. It wasn't until 2011 that the US government began requiring the auto industry to test “female” dummies. In Sweden, the road safety expert Astrid Linder had the solution because, together with her team, she designed EvaRid , the female prototype that helped manufacturers develop vehicles that would protect both men and women.

The story of the first female mannequin created by Linder reaffirms the importance of including more women in the work teams of various corporations. Without Astrid Linder's vision, the auto industry could have taken longer to develop a safe driving option for us.

Diversity and female inclusion in companies is not a whim, but a necessity that benefits society and also companies. McKinsey & Company's global Diversity wins: How inclusion matters study - surveying more than 1,000 companies from 15 countries - found that organizations with diverse and inclusive work teams have 25% or more chances of having earnings above the average, in relation to other similar companies.

Fortunately during these pandemic months, 78% of medium-sized companies are already promoting actions in favor of the desired gender parity and with it, generating a cultural change. 34% are focusing on creating an inclusive culture and ensuring equitable access to more development opportunities and 31% are committed to continuing with flexible work for the benefit of more women.

We know that cultural transformations do not happen overnight, but the priority is for industries to accelerate their processes of female inclusion by 2022. The pandemic brought some setbacks that must be alleviated. As if it were a choir where diverse voices with different harmonic qualities work for a common good; thus, companies must take advantage of equal opportunities both the talent of women and men.

In a post-pandemic world, the empathy, creativity, commitment and versatility of female leadership are needed, as well as assertive communication and a willingness to change. More women are also needed in work teams because precisely they are the ones who most support the diversity, equity and inclusion efforts of organizations.

Creating an inclusive environment in companies can start with some concrete actions such as the following:

1. Speak up for inclusion : Royal Bank of Canada considers it important that the organization's executives and managers receive training on topics related to inclusion and diversity. Like this institution, my suggestion is that companies design a set of communication initiatives that encourage community members to build a solid culture of inclusion.

2. Diversity strategies: some companies such as GAP have a Diversity and Inclusion Council where an advisory group made up of corporate executives and organization leaders develop diversity and inclusion strategies. All the company's actions on inclusion and diversity are also implemented in its business strategies.

3. Professional development programs : invest in the development of educational programs and / or leadership programs that ensure the company has a portfolio of talented and high-potential women; while it gives women the option of developing a career.

4. Celebrate employee differences: Diversity and inclusion behaviors should be celebrated. This is one of the most important ways to show employees that they are respected.

In a few days we will celebrate the arrival of 2022. Many companies prepare their action plan on issues of equality and inclusion because they know that creating diverse work teams that promote an inclusive culture has a positive impact on both society and their business strategies . We are stronger when we run a business that cares about its communities and the world we live in.

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How has the gender balance in the construction and maritime industries changed over recent decades?

How has the level of discrimination for female employees in the construction industry changed over recent decades?

What are construction and maritime companies doing to promote and aid women in the field?

Inclusion and diversity can increase earnings by 25% or more, prompting companies to implement diversity strategies and councils.

Leadership support and training programs are essential for women in non-traditional roles.

Title:

Content: Seatrade Maritime is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

5 key takeaways for DEI in maritime

Photo: Diversity Study Group
Heidi Heseltine founder of Diversity Study Group
Effective diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are built on clear insight, agreed upon outcomes, and targeted approaches — intentionally working to avoid the inevitable pitfalls of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.

Drawing on data-led insights from members of the Diversity Study Group (DSG), Founder Heidi Heseltine offers 5 key insights on getting the basics right in maritime.

1. Building inclusion throughout an organisation’s levels

We know that shipping has made vital progress in recruiting and retaining women in certain sectors over the last few years, with significant effort put in into achieving a more gender balanced workforce. For instance, we’ve seen improvements in closing the gap in more junior/trainee levels and in management positions — though these numbers drop off at head of department and director roles, indicating fewer women in executive and senior roles.

While the knee-jerk reaction to this would be to specifically target greater inclusion only at specific tiers of management — which is often effective and can look great on corporate ESG registers — organisations should look to embed and maintain inclusion efforts at all levels, so that gender-parity is reflected throughout the business whether lower level or higher. After all, we know from well-established research that when women make up 30% in any given decision-making forum they stop being treated as ‘exceptional’ and additional women are not seen as particularly remarkable or threatening. This can be particularly key for creating welcoming spaces and proactively preventing backlash to DEI efforts, where possible. If the goal is embedding sustainable and resilient DEI practices, then our focus must be on ensuring that having women in all spaces in reasonable numbers is not the exception, but the rule.

2. Avoiding seeing women in maritime as a monolith

Women are diverse in their requirements of a workplace and its culture, and should not be lumped into a single group defined by our presumptions. When considering what DEI approaches work best at sea or even on shore, we need to account for the fact that our global workforces are culturally diverse and have different levels of awareness when it comes to gender, age, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, neurodiversity and gender identity, amongst others. Societal norms, local legislation, and what is understood as ‘diverse’ can vary based on lived experience as well as the demographics of those involved. Understanding what is important to the women in individual workplaces and how we as an industry can support them will help us develop appropriate action plans for the short and long term.

3. Creating support systems to enable gender parity in technical positions

Technical positions, fleet and port management are slower to evidence change and inclusion when compared to progress seen in more traditionally female-led fields like maritime finance, Human Resources (HR), and Communications and Marketing. Organisations keen to address this disparity might benefit from creating training programs that include mentorship initiatives, skill-building workshops, and leadership development opportunities tailored to women in technical fields. This can foster confidence for the employee and their co-worker, help establish relationships for them to draw on in the workplace, and ensure they have the sector-specific knowledge and tools that they need to succeed.

4. Fostering relationships and embedding peer support

Following on from the previous point, peer support often plays a pivotal role in fostering an inclusive workplace but this doesn’t mean that disparities may not persist among different groups of people. Working with DSG, I’ve seen factors such as nationality, culture, ethnicity, and location all help or hinder DEI efforts. This is why it is crucial to closely monitor changes in perceptions, especially during challenging industry conditions, to prevent any employee from feeling undervalued or unsupported since this can impact engagement, efficiency and productivity. It’s important that organisations proactively work to recognise and address any issues in morale, which then helps maintain employee wellbeing and ensures a continued level of performance and investment in the organisation’s goals. Regular feedback mechanisms and evolving and updated policies can help support better company culture.

5. The support of leadership in successful DEI practices

Data from our members at DSG indicates that simply having knowledge of an organisation's commitment to equality, with good intentions evolving to well-researched and considered action and policy, significantly boosts confidence in fair treatment. This is often irrespective of group affiliations benefiting from such policies — everyone benefits from the process.

This confidence in a company’s commitments not only supports recruitment and retention — as establishing a sense of belonging and fairness often attracts dedicated workers and keeps them — but often helps elevate the public and private profiles of the organisation and its leaders.

The future of our workforce is global; to remain competitive within and outside of our industry, embedding fair practices and equality is likely to be a key differentiator for success.

What are governments doing to promote and aid women in construction or maritime industries?

educational programs
mentorship opportunities
vocational training

The federal government has given Illinois $1 million to increase women in construction and boost industry diversity.

Title:

Content: ILLINOIS (WCIA) — The federal government is giving Illinois more than $1 million to help get more women into construction jobs.

Officials said it’s a much-needed investment to increase equity in the industry. Nationally, women make up about 4% of the skilled trades within construction jobs, and only 5% of building trade apprentices in Illinois. They want to see those numbers grow.

The grant money is part of the more than $1 trillion federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill signed by President Biden. It is going to the Illinois Department of Labor and the Chicago Women in Trades organization. It will allow them to guide construction companies, unions and other groups on putting together programs that put workforce equity in infrastructure projects.

Governor Pritzker said the federal dollars will help break down barriers for women who have been historically left out of construction industry opportunities.

“Illinois is a national leader in building pathways for women into infrastructure, and construction careers,” Pritzker said. “The status quo doesn’t reflect the tremendous talent that exists in all of our communities, and particularly among women, and we can’t build back better and build back stronger unless we move everyone ahead.”

The state has already made investments to create better opportunities for women and people of color to enter these jobs through Rebuild Illinois and the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act. Tradeswomen’s organizations will be leading the effort to create plans aimed at increasing women’s inclusion in construction and infrastructure jobs.

What are governments doing to promote and aid women in construction or maritime industries?

Women earn 83 cents for every dollar earned by White men, with women of color earning even less.

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White House Reveals Nation’s First Gender Equity Strategy, Aiming to Close the Pay Gap and Increase Abortion Access

Originally published by The 19th

The White House’s Gender Policy Council has published the nation’s first strategy to achieve gender equity, a multi-part approach that centers economic security, abortion access and voting rights with a focus on ensuring that people from marginalized groups are prioritized.

The strategy, published Friday, is the culmination of work from the council, which was established via executive order shortly after President Joe Biden took office. It was designed to help guide how domestic and foreign policy that directly affects women, girls and LGBTQ+ people is shaped across the administration. At the center of the plan is a focus on intersectionality and addressing specific systemic barriers for people of color and gender diverse people.

The Gender Policy Council plans to prepare an annual report to the president that will track the administration’s progress in meeting the goals outlined in the strategy. The Office of Management and Budget will lead the implementation.

As part of the strategy, each government agency will be required to establish and prioritize at least three goals designed to advance some element of the plan — including one goal that can be established immediately using current resources — and create a plan for how to implement them. Agency implementation plans must be completed in nine months.

That work will come with long-awaited reforms to data collection across agencies to better capture more granular data on gender and sexual orientation, as well as layering multiple factors, such as ethnicity and gender identity. Lack of data on groups at the intersections — Black trans women, Native American women and nonbinary Americans, for example — has limited the ability to create targeted policy solutions. The administration’s Equitable Data Working Group, created via executive order at the start of the year, will work with agencies to address blind spots in federal data and support more frequent data collection.

All told, it’s an “aspirational vision,” the council said, outlined across a 42-page report that touches on 10 key areas: improving economic security; reducing gender-based violence; increasing health care access; improving educational attainment; increasing gender equity in the justice and immigration systems; advancing human rights in the legal system; ensuring gender equality is part of security and humanitarian relief; responding to climate change with a focus on gender; closing gender gaps in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields; and advancing women’s participation in democracy and in leadership positions.

“It really recognizes that the priorities are inherently linked and have to be really tackled together,” Jennifer Klein, co-chair and executive director of the White House Gender Policy Council, told The 19th ahead of the report’s release.

Beyond policy, the council also noted that the work to be done on gender equity — a goal that has not been met by any country on the globe, though the United States is arguably behind its competitors on many key metrics — requires a “shift in the social and cultural norms that undermine gender equity and equality, undervalue work traditionally and disproportionately carried out by women, and prevent rights on paper from being fully implemented in practice.”

The report, therefore, should be treated as a roadmap, the council said, for domestic and international policy.

“Only a handful of other nations have created national gender strategies. I hope that its release demonstrates both our own leadership — U.S. leadership — on gender equity and equality, and it will also, I hope, have a catalytic effect on the world stage,” Klein said.

Establishing economic security for women is a cornerstone of the plan, particularly during a pandemic that has erased gains women made in the labor force prior to 2020. Unequal pay and a significant concentration of women in low-wage jobs with few benefits have led to an uneven recovery following the worst of the economic fallout at the start of the pandemic, which set off the country’s first women’s recession.

In September, the most recent month for which data is available, more than 300,000 women left the labor force — the largest single-month drop-off in a year. This happened even as the country is considered in a “recovery.”

The council’s strategy promotes policies that close the gender pay gap, which finds women earning 83 cents for every $1 earned by White men. Compared with White men’s $1, Black women earn 64 cents, Latinas earn 57 cents, Native American women earn 60 cents and Asian women earn 85 cents, though that figure obscures the reality that the gap is much wider for women across ethnicities.

The Gender Policy Council supports legislation that closes loopholes in pay discrimination laws, as well as loopholes in accomodation laws for pregnant people in the workplace.

Some of the elements of the economic plan are already in the works under a package being negotiated in Congress that could raise pay for care workers, 95 percent of whom are women; reduce the cost of child care for parents; and establish the country’s first paid leave policy. The United States is one of the only industrialized nations that doesn’t have a federal leave policy.

As part of the strategy, the federal government will also update its sexual harassment policies across the federal workforce and military.

To more specifically target gender-based violence, the council plans to set up the country’s first action plan designed to examine the root causes of gender-based violence and areas where services for survivors can be improved. It specifically hopes to address the violence against Black transgender women, who make up 66 percent of all victims of fatal violence against trans and nonbinary people.

The council’s strategy also specifically calls out expanding abortion access as a key tenet of its plan, coming at a time when the nation has passed more anti-abortion restrictions than any year on record, and when laws like the near-ban of the procedure in Texas threaten to undo Roe v. Wade.

“We will use all available levers to protect these rights, and we will work to codify the constitutional rights recognized under Roe v. Wade for nearly half a century,” the council wrote, including removing the Hyde Amendment from the federal budget, which prohibits federal funds from covering abortion services for people enrolled in federally funded insurance prorgams such as Medicaid and Medicare. The Hyde Amendment was excluded from the president’s budget this year, and a budget bill proposed by Sen. Patty Murray, which faces opposition in both chambers of Congress, also omits Hyde.

Another key part of the White House strategy, the report said, is ensuring that people of all genders are represented in leadership positions and have fair access to voting and other means of civic engagement. Since the Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act, a number of states moved to implement voter ID laws and other restrictions that can be disproportionately burdensome for women, people of color and low-income people. In recent weeks the White House has faced pressure to push harder for voting rights legislation that has been blocked by Senate Republicans. When it comes to advancing women and LGBTQ+ people in leadership, Biden’s administration is one of the most diverse in the country’s history and includes a number of historic firsts.

The administration will look for opportunities in addition to legislation, through executive action and within the powers of federal agencies, to advance its gender equity goals. As part of the development of the gender strategy, the council not only consulted members of Congress and federal advisers but also community-based organizations, labor unions and others. The team held 11 listening sessions with 270 girls, young women, transgender and other gender diverse people around the country to understand and identify key priorities for them. The council said it will continue to work with these community groups and leaders as it moves to implement its plan.

“It will ensure that we take this document, which is a broad and very ambitious vision, and turn it to the work ahead,” Klein said. “And then, really importantly, hold ourselves accountable, and measure whether we have lived up to the vision of the strategy.”

source: NextGov

China's shrinking workforce is offset in part by a growing number of women in heavy industry, with women making up 14% of construction workers.

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Content: Aging spawns the phenomenon of "iron girl" Mainland women enter heavy industry
Social Hotspot 14: 42 2021 / 08 / 12
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Due to labor shortages caused by low birth rates and an aging population, Chinese women are increasingly taking on long-male-dominated heavy labor in construction, transportation and other industries, contrary to traditional gender roles in China ’ s vast labor market.
The Wall Street Journal reports that China ’ s total workforce has been shrinking for years, in part because state policies have limited the size of families.
According to census data, the proportion of the working age population aged 15 to 59 in China has fallen from 70% a decade ago to 63% in 2020, to nearly 900 million people.
The Chinese government is trying to expand the workforce by encouraging couples to have more children and is considering delaying the retirement age.
The number of women workers in the heavy industry is growing fast
At present, most women in China still work in service industries such as retail and catering.
The researchers note that women who switch to construction and transportation are at greater risk of harm and sexual harassment, which used to be dominated by men.
China ’ s aging population faces recruitment difficulties, young people refuse to sell out to the manufacturing industry
The Politburo of the Central Committee announced the implementation of the three-child policy
The latest figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics show that at the end of 2018, nearly 9.5 million women were employed in the construction industry, equivalent to 14% of the total number of construction workers, up from 10% at the end of 2004.
According to the researchers, the official data may underestimate the actual number of women workers in the construction industry, as many women are hired through temporary employment agencies and are not considered regular employees.
Sarah Swider, a sociologist at Wayne State University, has studied construction sites for more than 10 years. Swider said that the number of women working on construction sites has grown rapidly, so employers have set up separate living areas and bathrooms for them.
These women also have to do double the work: in addition to the routine work of moving bricks and making cement, they also have to do laundry and cooking for male workers. The average salary of these women workers is generally about half that of male workers, Swider said.
Women are not as good as men in terms of salary in some jobs.
Researchers who study China ’ s labor force and gender issues estimate that about a third of workers on some construction sites in China ’ s big cities are women, up from almost zero in the 1980s.
Eight years ago, women made up just over one-tenth of construction workers, according to a survey of more than 6,000 construction workers in nine cities by a nonprofit labor rights group in Beijing.
The women ’ s work gradually expanded from cooking and cleaning to screening sand and operating machinery, these people said.
[China Population Census] Statistics Bureau: Old age becomes a long-term important national situation
[Population crisis] Northeast advanced aging two factors are difficult to resolve
Emily Honig, a historian at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said that in the Mao era, female workers were called "iron girls" and were a symbol of gender equality, but after Deng Xiaoping came to power, women's heavy industry was no longer popular as China's wealth increased.
But “now, with labor demand changing again, this Mao era directive seems to be back to square one. ”
A gender pay gap indicator released by the International Labor Organization in 2018 showed that women globally are paid on average nearly 20% less than men, the gender pay gap in China is slightly higher than the global average at 21%, and the gap in the United States is lower at 15%.
Editor-in-Chief: Li Bingqi
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How has the gender balance in the construction and maritime industries changed over recent decades?

How has the level of discrimination for female employees in the construction industry changed over recent decades?

Virtual reality simulators can provide hyperrealistic training for crane operators, increasing their proficiency and reducing equipment damage risk.

Title:

Content: Sections
Technique
“Intechcom ” has created a hyperrealistic VR simulator for crane operators
Intechcom has created virtual simulators for crane operators.
The development helps to increase the professional level of crane operators and make the learning process more intensive and convenient.
The simulator consists of a real driver ’ s chair with crane joysticks and buttons and VR glasses that give the user maximum visibility both horizontally and vertically.
There is a place for the teacher (a separate computer is not required), you can configure the complexity of tasks, record the progress of their implementation, etc.
The development is portable: it easily fits in the trunk of a conventional car, is assembled and disassembled in 15 minutes.
Currently, two types of simulators are ready: the portal (GANZ crane is taken as a basis) and the bridge, designed for work in steelmaking plants.
IT personnel for industry will be trained in a special educational center
IT industry support
The fundamental difference between the VR-simulator “Intekom ” from others, where the student sees everything on the screen, is hyperrealism.
Igor Ovyan, CEO of Intechcom, said: “The standard training of the crane operator lasts 2-3 months: the theoretical part can be laid in 2 weeks, the rest of the time takes production practice.
But for virtuoso ownership — to really “feel ” a machine — it takes years of experience.
Therefore, the higher the realism of the simulator and the more various professional subtleties laid down in the program, the better prepared the beginner.
Our specialists collected data in the port of Murmansk and at the NLMK steel plant.
We climbed into the cockpit of the crane, recorded the sounds of the port and workshop, consulted with experienced crane operators, who revealed many nuances, for example, that a quiet click should sound when a certain, rather rare action.
Extremely realistic SCs have been modeled.
You can memorize the rules as much as you want, but in the real situation you get confused.
The VR simulator provides full immersion: the cabin swings from the wind or overload, the operator is blinded by the sun or, on the contrary, visibility deteriorates due to gas pollution in the workshop, etc.
We have been engaged in the modernization of industrial equipment for many years and implemented all the novelties in the simulator, even a touch panel for monitoring, which warns about exceeding the load or if the cable is wound.
After training in a virtual environment, it is much easier to transfer to the real chair of the crane operator - there is no difference, while the risk that a beginner will not cope with expensive equipment is much lower.
VR-simulator is ideal for career guidance.
Impressions are strong: the cabin is transparent, you are at a huge height and you are subject to a powerful car.
A reason to fall in love with the profession. ”

Training centers like the one in Assiut provide heavy equipment training, including loader licenses, for women.

Title:

Content: General Supervision
Elham Aboul Fath
Editor-in-Chief
Thank you for your patience.
General Supervision
Elham Aboul Fath
Editor-in-Chief
Thank you for your patience.
Noura learned to drive a loader and braved bullying to help her husband treat her two sons.
A video.
Noura put her two children with autism in front of her eyes and did not look at the difficulty and hardship of driving heavy equipment and decided to learn to drive "Lauder" to be the first woman in Upper Egypt to obtain a driver's license to improve her condition and help her husband to pay for the treatment of their two sons without considering the bullying she faced from the surrounding society in light of the customs and traditions that restrict women in Upper Egypt
Noura Jamal Taha Mohamed, 36, daughter of Assiut, said that I am married and have three children, including two with autism, and since their birth, my husband and I visit doctors ’ clinics to treat them, and they are all in schools. I learned to drive a loader and challenge all the ridicule and bullying so that I can improve my income to help my husband to pay for my children ’ s treatment.
Noura added: I learned from my friend about the announcement of the initiative of a decent life at the training center about training young people on crafts and applied to learn the craft of construction, but when I went to the training center I found the teaching of driving heavy equipment, so I decided to learn to drive the loader equipment and there were many challenges ahead of me.
She continued: When I asked the management of the training center to apply to learn to drive the loader, there was a great surprise from them, especially since it is an effort on any girl, but after presenting my request to the management of the training center, I found a welcome and support for me and joined the training on driving the loader and learn about all the basic tasks that follow during driving and check the stomach before operating it for the availability of safety means during driving.
She continued: I found great support from my husband, unlike the community that faced my desire to bully me, but this was an incentive for me to achieve my ambition, especially as I was putting my children in front of my eyes to find a source of income to help me with my husband in completing their treatment journey and not need anyone.
After receiving my driver ’ s license, I will seek to find a real job opportunity within a company that values women ’ s work, especially as I seek to develop my life for the better.
Noureddine Ahmed Mostafa Darwish, a heavy equipment trainer at the Assiut training center, said that the center provides training services for a number of equipment and trades, including training equipment on loaders, excavators and other heavy equipment, but for the first time in Assiut, a woman is applying to learn to drive a loader.
Noureddine added that “Noura ” was quick to respond during the training period due to her love for this profession and this helped greatly in passing the tests and showed proficiency in the speed of receiving information and going through the experience without fear or hesitation and I did not face any difficulties in training her only at the beginning because she is a woman undergoing a huge experience as a heavy stomach driving for the first time but she excelled after.
When Noura applied for a heavy equipment driving course, we asked her to think and slow down on this matter, especially as she was the first woman to apply for such courses, but we found her determination to take this course, so we presented the matter to the head of the agency, who welcomed the order and asked us to support her.
https: / / fb.watch / kLkP7r8 _ TB /? mibextid = NnVzG8

How has the gender balance in the construction and maritime industries changed over recent decades?

What are governments doing to promote and aid women in construction or maritime industries?

educational programs
vocational training

West Virginia Women Work offers tuition-free training in construction skills for entry-level positions.

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Training Program Helps Women Take Advantage Of Construction Boom

Carpenter apprentice Brook Moyle always knew she wanted to make things.

“I love working with my hands,” Moyle said. “I like creating something. I like seeing my efforts build something.”

Moyle is a motivated person. She rode an electric bike from Fairmont to Elkins to make sure she made it to the first day of her apprenticeship. But Moyle said she didn’t think she had a chance at being a carpenter, or, at best, her dream was on the backburner while she worked other jobs in telemarketing and McDonalds. That is until she found West Virginia Women Work.

“They go through specific training courses, they go through almost all the trades, and then you get to kind of at least have the skills to pick something,” Moyle said. “If you do graduate from the program, you are kind of like put above the stock for anyone who did not, and tried to get into a union or a job or anything, because they have the connections to make that happen.”

Founded in 2000, West Virginia Women Work helps women explore, train, and secure employment in nontraditional occupations, especially the skilled trades.

“Especially in West Virginia, a four year degree isn't for everybody," said Carol Phillips, executive director of the program. "And just learning about, especially for women, the skilled trades, which maybe they didn't learn about in school or at home just due to gender roles,” she said. “Teaching people that you can come through this pre-apprenticeship program, you can join union apprenticeships, private apprenticeships, enter directly into skilled trades positions and make, you know, twice what you might make as a nursing assistant or even a school teacher. Just letting women know that there's opportunity.”

Earlier this month, Gov. Jim Justice announced $500 million for improvements to bridges across West Virginia. There are also several newly announced major construction projects, like the Nucor plant, that will need workers to make them a reality. For Phillips, the trained people from West Virginia Women Work are an obvious choice.

“We work with companies, unions, and groups on their equity planning,” she said. “If you're going to need 500 workers for something in the next six months, where are you going to get those from? We want those to come from West Virginia. If you're saying the workers aren't here, maybe you need to look at a more diverse group of workers.”

West Virginia Women Work prepares women for those roles through the Step Up for Women Construction Program, a tuition-free employment-based skilled trade training program designed to prepare adult women for entry-level positions in the construction industry and registered apprenticeships.

Nichole Stephenson is the Charleston program coordinator for Step Up for Women Construction training. Before going through the program herself, Stephenson was in healthcare for 10 years, but wasn’t happy. Despite being exposed to the trades her entire life, she never considered it an option.

“All of the men in my family are tradesmen, every single one,” she said. “I held the flashlight for every man in my family. My dad always said, ‘I work this hard, so you don't have to.’ What he didn't realize, and I don't think I realized at the time is, I loved it, I loved it.”

Choice is an important aspect of the program for Stephenson. Program students cycle through training in carpentry, electrical, plumbing and welding so that they can figure out what trade works best for them.

“This is a non-judgmental zone. So if you can’t hold a hammer, we teach you the proper way to do it. You don't walk onto a job site and, ‘She doesn't know what she's doing,’” Stephenson said. “What we do as coordinators is really work with students and watch them and see where their gifts are, and you know what they really tend to do well, and they find enjoyment in. It's not, ‘Well, I'm an electrician, because my dad was an electrician.’ It's choices, we show them so many things.”

Building confidence is baked into the program. Students are also coached on what Stephenson calls “soft skills,” things like interviewing and budgeting for delays in the weather-dependent construction industry.

Lakeisha Hines is the Morgantown program coordinator for Step Up for Women Construction. Like Stephenson, she also went through the program while seeking out a more promising professional future.

“We want to get the safety with OSHA 10 out of the way first, so we make sure that they are safety conscious, because that's the most important thing when you're working in construction,” Hines said. “Then we kind of sprinkle in some of the soft skills along with the handling portions of the program.”

Students also get a chance to visit project sites and speak to program graduates. Hines said it helps students see the future they’re working towards past the 12 weeks of training.

“I think it's empowering to them to see where somebody started, and a lot of those people have the same stories,” Hines said. “It starts with them actually applying and knowing that they can do the work, too. I think our program starts to get their self-confidence up, lets them know that they can do it. And these women tell their daughters that they can do it. And it's just like a trickle down effect.”

The next program in Charleston and Morgantown starts Feb. 27 and is currently accepting applications.

North Central/Morgantown Reporter, cschulz@wvpublic.org, 304-284-1497, @SchulzReports

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What are governments doing to promote and aid women in construction or maritime industries?

educational programs
vocational training

Tata Steel is promoting diversity by assigning female operators as Stacker-cum Reclaimer operators for the first time.

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Content: Follow Us:

Woman breaks gender barrier to operate Hyva

Subodh Pandey, Vice President, TSM, congratulated the new recruits and interacted with them along with other executives of TSM Sandeep Dhir, Chief, Human Resource Business Partner, Subrata Basak, Chief, Logistics Operation and Suvransu Sekhar Rout, Chief, RMHS & Raw Material Processing Plant, TSM.

Statesman News Service | Bhubaneswar |

Breaking the gender barrier, four women employees are on the strenuous job as Stacker-cum Reclaimer (SCR) raw material handling system (RMHS) at the Tata Steel Meramandali (TSM) in Dhenkanal district of Odisha.

Besides, a woman has been assigned the job for Hyva operator. It is for the first time that female employees will shoulder the responsibilities as SCR operators in Tata steel’s Meramandali unit, the company said in a statement.

Subodh Pandey, Vice President, TSM, congratulated the new recruits and interacted with them along with other executives of TSM Sandeep Dhir, Chief, Human Resource Business Partner, Subrata Basak, Chief, Logistics Operation and Suvransu Sekhar Rout, Chief, RMHS & Raw Material Processing Plant, TSM.

 “We are extremely pleased to have you in our team as this marks a monumental milestone on gender balance among the workforce in the plant. While accelerating our commitment to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, this measure will also encourage more girls to look for such jobs”, Pandey said.

 “As a responsible corporate, we not only strongly believe in the diversity of our human capital but also guide our vendor partners to imbibe our beliefs and contribute to it. This is directed to reimagining how a job gets done, reshaping the team and empowering employees wherever they work”, Basak said while speaking on the occasion.

Breaking the barrier, the female SCR operators with Diploma in Mechanical Engineering underwent safety induction and on the job training, prior to their on boarding for stacking and reclaiming operation, considered mostly as a male-only job, the statement added.

How has the gender balance in the construction and maritime industries changed over recent decades?

How has the level of discrimination for female employees in the construction industry changed over recent decades?

What are construction and maritime companies doing to promote and aid women in the field?

promote women to higher roles
active recruitment of women