👉👉👉 Women in construction only make up 4% of the 200,000 jobs in residential construction. 🧐👷🏼♀️👷🏼♀️👷🏼♀️👷🏼♀️
On March 10th, Cassidy deVeer (president of 3rd Generation Homes) was a panellist with three other females during the virtual event “Women in Construction 2022”.
Speakers:
Cassidy deVeer – President/Owner, 3rd Generation Homes
Gina Parvaneh Cody, Ph.D. – (Building Engineering), Member of the Order of Canada
Sarah Bond, P.Eng. – Mine Manager, Arcosa Specialty Materials
Moderator:
Michelle Branigan, Chief Executive Officer of Electricity Human Resources Canada
The Conference
This conference brought lots of ideas about the female role in the Construction industry and outlined the real opportunity for future generations to join. They discussed how to recruit and retain women into the construction trades.
Here are the key points that all panellists of the event mentioned:
“Be yourself even if it’s not a women-dominated industry”
“Women show amazing results by bringing a diverse perspective to the construction site”
Advice for anyone who wants to move into the construction industry:
There is an extreme labour shortage in this industry and will be for a very long time. This means that there is a very high level of job security for those in the trades.
Taking a sampler program allows you to try a variety of different trades. This gives you a chance to pick the career path that suits you best. Sometimes you might go into the program thinking you want to be an electrician, but discover how much you love welding.
Try to find summer jobs in the industry so you can get a taste of what interests you the most about construction
Find a mentor, many women are eager to take someone under their wing
All these ideas show courage to follow the dreams, to be in the Construction industry and feel happy.
President of 3rd Generation Homes – Cassidy deVeer said:
“Perform a 360-degree scan of your business and find how you can adapt your environment to include females on your team”
Informational resource Rew made a great post related to this topic :
According to the Canadian Home Builders Association of BC (CHBA BC), women only make up four percent of the 200,000 jobs in residential construction.
“CHBA BC recognizes how vitally important gender diversity is in the residential construction industry,” says Neil Moody, CEO, of CHBA BC. “There are incredible opportunities for women that offer challenging work, good pay and high levels of job satisfaction. We congratulate Belle Construction for providing the opportunities for women in the trades.”
Women have clearly made some inroads. Take for example CHBA BC’s vice president on the board of directors, Cassidy deVeer. She broke the glass ceiling when she became the first-ever female president of her local Home Builder’s Association (CHBACO) in Kelowna, inspiring other women to step up. deVeer was able to finish her presidency with a balance board of female and male builders.
Cassidy deVeer, president of “3rd Generation Homes” in Kelowna
That’s not all. She is also president/owner of one of Kelowna’s best home building companies, 3rdGeneration Homes. deVeer is a strong advocate for encouraging women to build careers in construction. However, de Veer concedes most girls don’t wake up and think about being a millwright.
“Careers in trades are still quite a bit of a mystery for most women,” says deVeer. “A lot of parents also don’t think the trades are a viable choice for their daughters. Yet, there are very high paying, secure jobs in the construction industry… and they don’t necessarily include carrying tools.”
