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“You have to be on your game. There’s no place for mediocrity for a woman – it’s a respect industry.” “If you do your homework and are authentic and a go-getter, you’ll have a place. … Women have earned that place.” Mierzejewski, who as past president of the National Association of Women in Construction/ Boston worked on the front lines of advancing the female presence in the industry, feels that education is the key to equalizing the genders. “A big part of it is how you grow up. I don’t know that the schools and counselors are doing enough to teach women about those opportunities early,” she said. “There’s a huge lack of women choosing nontraditional roles, which is recognized as a problem, and a loss of potential.” She said that it will take successive generations of female leaders taking charge to create a trickle-down effect of prestige and confidence. “It would be nice to see more women at the top,” she said, both in the construction industry and also the government. “There needs to be changes made even at federal government level to equalize the workplace,” she said. “Women have family choices to make that men don’t take into account.” If Mierzejewski’s vision is realized, there is a “young, innovative culture” eager to take hold. She said that, as the Baby Boomers retire, young Millennial women will continue to develop skills and seek opportunities, and “that’s something top people need to be encouraging, across the industry.”
Jacquie Magill Though Jacquelyn Magill’s first job at a construction firm was a welcome change from the survey company she had joined at the outset of her career, her entrance into the male-dominated industry was inauspicious: she was mistakenly referred to as “Jack” by new coworkers who weren’t expecting a woman to walk through the door. After showing “looks of horror” at that realization, they moved onto calling her “the broad,” she said. Despite the friction, Magill proved to be a valuable asset to the company in a leading role, which landed her in an even more awkward predicament. In meetings, women were supposed to remain silent and let men do the talking – Magill had to resort to passing notes to her male coworkers to orchestrate the dialogue. Eventually, she dropped jaws again by standing up and providing her expertise aloud. Though some traditionalists around the industry turned up their noses at her boldness, the risks paid off, and before long firms were competing to hire her. “I find it comical, honestly. You can’t let it bother you,” she said. “If you’re interested and dedicated, it shows.” Eventually, she struck out on her own, and since 1999 has been the owner of EDM Construction in Merrimac, providing structural steel and miscellaneous metals services on a 18
Spring 2017
wide variety of public and private projects. For the new generation, Magill advocates networking as perhaps the most important remedy to the gender bias, which has not entirely faded. “It’s who you know,” Magill said, describing how she had started simply with a vocational school degree, without the luxury of industry ties. “Network everywhere, even if it means going outside of your comfort zone.”
Rose Conti Over her career, Rose Conti has observed a sizable cross-section of the industry, having worked at four different general contracting firms across three decades. The changes have been significant, she said. “It’s not your father’s construction business anymore, or your brother’s,” she said. “It’s not a boys’ club anymore.” Although when she started at construction firm Lee Kennedy Co. in the 1980s, she was virtually the only woman in the office, Conti made sure not to dwell on the fact – even if others did. “Being the only woman, you were subject to more attention,” she said. “I kept my head down and absorbed everything, and grew my confidence. … I needed to earn my stripes. “My mentors were important,” she added, describing how Lee Kennedy was always a diversity-focused firm which hoped to tap into the skills women bring to the table. These include organization, multitasking and, perhaps most importantly, communication. “It’s a people business in the end,” she said. And it’s the forward-thinking culture at Lee Kennedy that brought her back to the firm, where today she is the director of interiors and special projects. Improving interpersonal skills is one of Conti’s goals for the next generation and the up-and-comers she mentors. As a past president of the National Association of Women in Construction / Boston and the founder of an unofficial mentoring program with the alumni association at her alma mater, Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT), Conti aims to illustrate the opportunities of the construction industry to young women and girls, sometimes as early as middle school. “A lot of women just don’t realize this is a viable career path,” she said, describing herself and her peers as a “sounding board” where women can air their trepidations that might otherwise scare them off entirely. Though the enrollment of women at WIT has risen significantly since her time there, Conti said it is still below a quarter of the student population. “You have to go outside your comfort zone sometimes to grow,” Conti said. “Keep learning, absorb as much as you can, join groups, talk to peers. … You have to do your homework and keep getting educated, formally and informally.”