BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — It's Women in Construction Week, and many women in the Queen City are hitting the nail on the head when it comes to being a role model in a male-dominated field.
Layla Perez used to work at a grocery store, but the 19-year-old is putting on her hard hat.
"Some plumbers from the union, Local 22, came around and they said, 'hey, I like your spunk. I think you're really hardworking. I think you should look into our union,' " Perez.
So, that’s exactly what she did. Perez is now a Metal Trades Trainee currently helping redevelop the Trico Building on Ellicott St. in downtown Buffalo.
“It has bettered my emotional regulation,” she said. “It has made me more resilient, and I impress myself each and every day doing things I thought I never was able to do before.”
Perez isn’t the only young woman exploring this field. The Buffalo Employment and Training Center hosted a Women and Girls Construction Career Exploration Day to celebrate the week.
“I’m hoping to start in renovating houses and then move up to flipping houses with my own business,” Alexis Badgett, a student in the BOCES Potter Program, said.
Badgett was alongside many young women attending the conference, and was able to learn from women who have been in the male-dominated industry for years.
“I’ve learned to speak up and stand up for myself like my mom raised me,” Karen Jerge, owner of Integrated Construction Services and Solutions Inc., said. “To always be sweet, but don’t let someone walk all over you — I think that helps with being in the construction field.”
This is a mindset that Badgett told 7 News reporter Hannah Ferrera she is already starting to learn.
“I’ve earned my respect over my years,” Badgett said. “Sticking it through and having my boundaries set and keeping them set.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports women make up only ten percent of the construction workforce. Badgett said she is the only woman in her Potter Program classes, and Perez recalled being one of only four women working on the Trico Building.
However, these women said they are hoping to see more employees like themselves in the workforce.
“Shop class was my favorite class when I was younger in high school, but they didn’t see us [women] that way,” Jerge said. “It’s so nice to see that there are so many people in the community and so many programs that women can get into construction — and they’re doing it from the labor part and the business part.”
