As Mattee Eldridge dreamed about what she wanted to be when she grew up, three occupations rose to the top of her list: neurosurgeon, anesthesiologist or cosmetologist.
Though many of her family members worked in skilled trades, that idea didn’t cross her mind until she attended Build Your Future Trades Day at Pendleton Heights Middle School.
Now a commercial HVAC estimator, 19-year-old Eldridge is among the 20% of cost estimators in the nation who are women, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“[The program] opened my eyes to the opportunities in trades and gave me the chance to see what opportunities I had for the future,” she said.
Indiana is among many states that need more skilled trades professionals, and there’s room to attract more women and girls to those careers. Nationwide, women make up only 6% of natural resources, construction and maintenance occupations; 3.5% of electricians; 3.1% of plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters; and 2.7% of heating, air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics.
Several Indiana organizations and programs, including BYF Trades Day, are trying to expose girls to these professions at early ages to increase their representation in the fields.
“Girls are more interested in trades than they have ever been in history,” said Karen Shreves of Midwest Remodeling, the business that hosts BYF Trades Day with the Madison County Builders Association. “There is no field that they can’t be confident. They just have to work hard like anybody else.”
Getting trades exposure early
Shreves and her sister, Beth Carey, specifically target 7th graders for BYF Trades Day because students must choose a graduation pathway with a postsecondary goal of enrollment, employment or enlistment before high school.
During the event, supported by Build Your Future Indiana, the Indiana Builders Association and the National Association of Home Builders, local professionals run interactive stations. Students can also explore machinery such as bulldozers and concrete trucks.
Eldridge’s experience at BYF Trades Day directly led her to pursue trades-related courses in high school.
“I took the very first construction class all the way to advanced construction, which I definitely would not have done if it weren’t for Beth’s and Karen’s program,” she said.
As the event has progressed from year to year, the sisters have noticed that girls jump at the chance to participate when given the opportunity.
“This year, especially, our volunteers were like, ‘Anytime we ask who wants to run the saw, who wants to use the drill, it was the girls who were raising their hands,’” Shreves said.
In Indianapolis this summer, Perry Township Schools hosted its fourth Girls Construction Camp, offering hands-on instruction and afternoon field trips for one week after the school year ended. Joe Shelburn, camp organizer, said 65 girls entering 7th and 8th grades applied for the 30-slot roster this year. They built greenhouses, which were auctioned in September with proceeds going toward the Perry Township Education Foundation.
“The girls are so engaged in what they’re doing. In a week’s time, these girls come together, they don’t know each other, and they form relationships and friendships that otherwise they’d never have built,” Shelburn said.
Shelburn believes the interaction between middle school girls and skilled trade employers on field trips helps the construction campers understand how the real world works.
“Everyone has a similar account of the character traits they’re looking for: be on time, have a good attitude, be ready to learn,” he said. “We say those things, but this gives it teeth. It’s not just a goofy teacher saying it. This is the owner of the company.”
In Evansville, Lacy Wargel’s Trades for Tomorrow has 85 field trips scheduled this year. The engineer takes groups of 15 middle school students to local unions for activities and also runs a summer camp for high school students.
Wargel started the idea for her nonprofit with a field trip in 2020 after talking to employers about the challenge of finding reliable workers and the need to raise awareness about skilled trades earlier in school. Out of that initial group, two girls and two boys are now high school seniors working as apprentices.
Wargel also partners with Community One, a community development nonprofit, to bring six students to Tepe Park once a month for residential renovation work. She noted that the gender split for those activities is about 50/50.
“We’ve framed window headers. We’ve wired outlets and switches, we’ve laid flooring, hung drywall. Whatever they’re doing on the house,” Wargel said. “We have a lot of girls who sign up for that program.”
One skill that Shreves, Carey and Wargel have noticed many middle school girls mastering is welding. Consuelo Lockhart, founder of the Latinas Welding Guild in Indianapolis, said women make good welders because they are patient and detail-oriented. Plus, they like to be prepared before they begin.
“[Women] want to understand, ‘Am I doing this correctly? What does the right approach look like versus the wrong approach?’” Lockhart said. “Guys have an easier time jumping in and trying and seeing how it goes.”
Lockhart, who started her nonprofit in 2017 to teach Latina women how to weld, now holds co-ed and youth classes. She also helps students build soft skills for job placement by giving interview advice and emphasizing team culture.
Dealing with bias, building confidence
In male-dominated fields such as skilled trades, Lockhart confirmed that women have to overcome stereotypes such as assumptions about physical strength because of their size. However, dispelling the myth that these jobs are substandard may be a bigger hill to climb.
“When I was in school, the trades were spoken about so negatively,” Lockhart said. “If you’re a bad kid, you go to the alternative high school, and you get to do trades because you’re not academically inclined. Or if you don’t go to college, then your only other backup option is to go to a trade school.”
Lockhart and other proponents said the reality of choosing a career in skilled trades often means less debt, high wages and ample opportunity. For example, the American Welding Society projects 320,500 new welding professionals will be needed in the U.S. by 2029.
“There are certain kids who step into school, and they immediately feel like failures. But if you get them with a wrench in their hand or behind a steering wheel of a machine, or with a stack of wood and some hammer and nails, suddenly they become what they’re meant to be,” Shreves said. “Just because college wasn’t the right pathway for them didn’t mean squat about their ability to have a great career.”
Carey stresses to students that beginning in a hands-on position can lead to project management, site supervision and entrepreneurship.
“Just because you start by being a mason doesn’t mean you’re going to be laying brick your whole life. It means you start by laying brick, and then you run a team who lays brick, and then you own a company that lays brick,” she said. “It can be where you stay if you want, but also you can be running the whole business.”
For girls who are intimidated about pursuing skilled trades as a career, Eldridge offered some words of wisdom.
“Don’t count yourself out because you’re a woman,” she said. “The possibilities are unlimited when you try new things, you’re confident and you believe in yourself to the fullest.”
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Mitizi S. Morris is an FPI News freelance contributor. You can reach her at mitzismorris@gmail.com.
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