By Maria Ford, President of U.S. Commercial & Industrial Sales and Marketing at Stanley Black & Decker
The National Association of Home Builders recently reported that women accounted for “11.3% of the construction workforce in in 2025,” the highest share in 20 years. Yet, women represented only “4% of workers in construction and extraction occupations.”
This is certainly encouraging, but that gap underscores the opportunity ahead: ensuring more young women understand that the skilled trades are a career path available to them.
Timing is Critical – And the Time is Now
This October, thousands of tradeswomen, pre-apprentices, journey workers and industry leaders will gather for the 2026 Tradeswomen Build Nations Conference (October 9–11) to recognize the women who build and strengthen our communities. It is an opportunity to celebrate how far women have come in the skilled trades and to consider how we inspire more young women to follow in their footsteps.
That question comes at an important moment for our industry. Experienced professionals are retiring after decades on the job, while employers are searching for the next generation of skilled workers to take their place. Meeting that need means expanding who sees the trades as a viable and rewarding career path, including the young women who will make up a significant part of tomorrow’s workforce.
But we cannot recruit young women into careers they have never had the opportunity to imagine for themselves. Building the next generation of tradeswomen starts with visibility: introducing girls and young women to these careers early, giving them opportunities to experience the work firsthand and showing them successful women who have already built their careers in the trades.
The Awareness Gap: Seeing a Future for Women in the Trades
For young women in particular, early exposure to the skilled trades can make a meaningful difference. If a student has never met a woman working as an electrician, plumber, welder or HVAC technician, she may not realize those careers are possibilities for her. If she has never stepped inside a shop class, picked up a tool or learned how an apprenticeship works, she may never seriously consider a career in the skilled trades.
That is the awareness gap our industry needs to help close.
Before we can recruit more young women into the trades, they need to know these careers exist – and can envision themselves in them. Career decisions begin taking shape long before young people enter the workforce. Their understanding of potential pathways is influenced by the opportunities they encounter at school and the people they see succeeding in these different industries. Educators and mentors are among the earliest and most influential guideposts young people look to as they begin thinking about their futures.
Meeting a tradeswoman can turn an unfamiliar career into something a student can begin to picture for herself. It also gives young women the opportunity to ask questions that cannot always be answered through a career guide.
The women gathering at Tradeswomen Build Nations are powerful examples of where careers in the trades can lead. Their experiences can help the next generation understand not only that women have a place in these professions, but that they can build lasting careers and become leaders within the industry.
Visibility Must Be Matched by Access
Building awareness starts with making career education more tangible. Discussing the trades in a classroom is an important start, but hands-on experiences can bring those conversations to life. A student who builds something, works with a new tool, or solves a problem in a workshop gains a much clearer understanding of what skilled work actually involves.
Educators should not have to create these opportunities alone. Professionals in the skilled trades also have an important role to play alongside schools. Classroom demonstrations, career days, job-shadowing opportunities and visits to workplaces can give young women a better picture of the industry and the many pathways into it.
Reinforcing “You Belong Here” Is a Win-Win
For too long, the trades have been framed through a narrow lens that does not reflect the talent and diversity of today’s workforce. Increasing the visibility of tradeswomen helps challenge outdated assumptions about who belongs in these careers. It sends a powerful message that skill, determination, and leadership are not defined by gender. The more often young women see tradeswomen succeeding, the more those old stereotypes begin to lose their hold.
Encouraging more women to enter the trades is not only the right thing to do — it is also a smart investment in the future of the workforce. As industries face growing demand for skilled talent, expanding awareness and access helps bring more capable people into high-impact careers. Greater visibility can help attract a broader range of talent, strengthen teams, and support innovation across the trades. Building the next generation of tradeswomen ultimately helps build a stronger industry for everyone.
The next generation of tradeswomen is already out there. If our industry wants them to help build its future, we have to make sure they can see themselves in it. And that’s a responsibility we all share.
If you happen to be attending Tradeswomen Build Nations, visit the DEWALT booth or please stop me to say hello. It would be an honor to be that spark that ignites your next steps in the trades.
