How they're changing the stigma surrounding women in the construction industry

PETERSBURG, Va. -- The first week of March, which is also Women's History Month, is dedicated towards celebrating women in construction.

This year will mark the 26th anniversary of the celebration and today, women are still making their mark in the male-dominated business of construction.

For Sam Villalobos and Quinn Campbell the two working on a construction site is more a rarity than the norm.

"I think it’s kind of a misconception that it has to be a male dominated industry," Campbell said.

But as times change, so do the faces on construction sites across the United States. Women make up just under 11% of the construction industry workforce.

 “I was never worried about joining the construction industry as a woman.  I was more just worried about joining the construction industry as women who didn’t know much about construction," Campbell said.

In Virginia, Sam Villalobos is a part of a larger group of women making up 12.5% of women in construction.

 “I was never worried about joining the construction industry as a woman," Villalobos said. "I was more just worried about joining the construction industry as women who didn’t know much about construction.”

Now, she is the senior project engineer on a $105 million dollar building project at Virginia State University.

For both Campbell and Villalobos, the job is the job, and gender doesn't really matter.

“The misconception, I’ve seen a lot is that you have to be strong or a certain type of way to work construction and it’s not like that at all," Campbell said.

Recently, a national publication named Villalobos a construction champion for 2024, an honor that only 30 other women in the country have received.

“As a woman out here everyday, I mean I know what my experience is like and I think it’s really important to build community with other women who are in the industry, so I think it’s really special moment and I think women in construction week does a really great job of highlighting them and how they have made a huge impact in the construction industry," Villalobos said.

Both Campbell and Villalobos agree there remains a misconception about women in the construction industry.

That misconception and image is changing however, as more and more women graduate from college, enter the construction business, and are recognized for their work.

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