Arizona’s construction industry is desperately seeking ways
to increase its ranks of skilled workers, particularly as the Baby Boom
generation starts to take early retirement in 2008, according to a KVOA/Tucson
story.
The
Del E. Webb School of Construction at Arizona State University is set to enroll
its largest number of women ever this fall, largely due to the efforts of its
new female recruiter,Melissa Luna, officials
said.
The
school currently counts a total student population of 375 males and 43 females.
This fall, 98 students will enter the school, 14 of which are women.
Two
metro Phoenix construction companies and one California company are funding 13
grants for students. Eight are specifically for women. Each student will
receive $1,000 for the year, except for one out-of-state female, who will
receive $1,500, Luna said.
All
students who received grants were in the top 25 percent of their high school
classes.
“What
I tell the females when I am recruiting them is that there are job
opportunities,” she told KVOA. “They will be more marketable because the
industry is looking for more females.”
Nationwide,
women comprised more than 9.5 percent of workers in the construction industry
in 2006, down slightly from about 10.5 percent a decade ago, according to theBureau of Labor Statistics.