ROCKY HILL, Conn. — March is Women’s History Month, and this week is Women in Construction Week.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, since February 2024, construction employment has grown by 133,000 jobs, 18,000 of which were occupied by women. That means about one in seven jobs have gone to women, helping to maintain the share of women in construction at just over 14%.
Among those female workers are Connecticut residents Cheslie Sanon and Rebecca Lacey.
Both women say they’re happy to be in the HVAC and electrical field, and they say there’s no better feeling than completing a job for a happy customer.
Sanon is employed as an electrician. She works for the Medford Wellington Service.
“I love walking away and knowing that the customer is satisfied,” Sanon said. “The customer is like, ‘Oh my God, thank you so much, I’ve had other companies come and they were not able to do much, but you guys came and showed up.’”
Sanon has been an electrician for five years and has been working with the company for three years.
She says prior to working for Medford Wellington Service she didn’t feel supported.
“The licensed electrician that I worked under as an apprentice didn’t believe anything about women being in the trade,” she said. “He more believed that a women’s role is at home and cooking and cleaning, and he treated me pretty rough.”
Her co-worker Lacey is an HVAC technician. She said the pushback isn’t as bad today as it was years ago.
“Not in the last like 10 years, I would say. I’ve been doing this for 15 years, and when I first started, there was a little bit of resistance from older male counterparts but not in the last 10 years,” Lacey said.
Ron Digpy, an HVAC field service director, said there’s a stereotype when it comes to construction workers, and women in the field change that narrative.
“You don’t have to be some burly grumpy man to do this stuff for a living,” Digpy said. “The money is not in the brown, it’s in the brains. You come out here, you’re a smart individual, you have tenacity, accountability and a great attitude, then the sky is the limit for you.”
To those women and girls inspired to follow in their footsteps, Sanon offered advice.
“Don’t act like a ‘miss know it all,’” she said. “Don’t be afraid to ask questions because any questions that you have, there is definitely an answer to. So, that’s one thing I teach myself on a daily basis.”
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Kaye Paddyfote is a multimedia journalist for FOX61 News. She can be reached at kpaddyfote@fox61.com.