On Tuesday, February 28th, at the Great Hall in Midland,Michigan roughly 150 girls signed up to attend the Build Like a Girl event, hosted by the Associated Builders and Contractors Greater Michigan chapter to empower themselves to enter the construction field. The event was aimed at girls in grades 5-12.
ABC Director of Marketing and Community Affairs, Kathy Geiger stated that this was their first Build Like a Girl event. Adding that a growing interest amongst young people has been mainly seen in boys, and that allowing the girls an opportunity to see how women are successful in construction jobs may change the perception the girls have and allow them to enter the construction field.
Geiger stated, “By having events like this, that number will grow even more, (We are) getting these girls hands-on activities so that they can try it out and let them see there are so many women in the industry that they can follow in their footsteps.”
The event had several experiences for the girls such as using nail guns, fixing leaking pipes and climbing scaffolding. The Build Like a Girl event also featured a confidence workshop that included a panel of women that currently work in the field. One of the panelists was Vice President of Design and licensed architect for Three Rivers Corporation. Kristin Riddle has been in the industry for roughly 20 years, designing educational, commercial, medical and institutional buildings.
Riddle stated during the panel, “We are starting to see more and more (women in construction), To be able to empower other young women and girls to go into these fields, to not shy away, be brave and do things that interests them, it is really important to see role models.”
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Photo Credit: Irina Mos / Shutterstock.com