When you think of construction, what comes to mind? For most people, it's men wearing hard hats, working hard to build things. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women make up 11% of the construction industry. Many studies say the biggest barrier for women entering the male-dominated field is psychological.
Army veteran, and alumna of Dunwoody College of Technology, Shantel Volker, has some advice for women interested in the field but are scared.
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"You know, we get into our heads too much, and the best thing to do, is to look outside of yourself and get out of your head. Those people that don't ask for help either get hurt, or they can't get the job done right."
Volker has been in the field for three years and now works as a maintenance engineer. Even as a veteran, she admits she's had to ask for help lifting heavy things.
Heather Gay holds many titles at Dunwoody. Among them, she is an instructor and mentor. Gay is diversifying the construction field by introducing young girls to tools.
"Right now, the construction industry is not representative of our community," Gay said.
"We do have this disparity of gender... to move that needle forward... are things that we do with our girl scout camps or summer camps. [We] teach young girls, and marginalized communities, things like how to handle tools."
Gay adds, "sometimes, the scariest thing is not knowing how to do something. If we create safe environments where young women feel like they can try stuff, they're fearless."
Dunwoody also offers a two year scholarship for women pursuing technical careers. Click here to learn more.
