Jessica Alvarez Castañeda was sick of low-paying jobs. For years, the 39-year-old mother of four had been “breaking her back for almost nothing” as a cashier, nursing assistant, babysitter, house cleaner and cook.

She was familiar with the skilled trades, which include careers such as carpentry, roofing and painting, because her three brothers worked as pipefitters.

But she hadn’t seriously considered pursuing a trade herself until 2022, when she learned that a friend of a friend — also a woman — had completed a training program to become a sheet metal apprentice.

“I had grabbed a hammer before, but I mean, that’s pretty much it,” said Alvarez Castañeda, who lives in Mountain View, with a laugh. “That was my major concern, that I wasn’t going to be strong enough when I’d be expected to do the same work as a man.”

Women make up about 11% of the construction industry nationally, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, underrepresented for reasons such as misperceptions of the industry, family pressures, and treatment in the workplace. But many California trades provide six-figure salaries within a few years, along with health benefits, a pension and union representation — an attractive career path as women increasingly serve as family breadwinners.

With funding from California’s Department of Industrial Relations, training programs and building trades councils are trying to increase the number of women and nonbinary people in a workforce historically dominated by men. They are finding success with targeted recruitment, childcare stipends and one-on-one mentoring.

Alvarez Castañeda signed up for the Trades Orientation Program, hosted by Santa Clara County nonprofit Working Partnerships USA. The program’s yearly enrollment of 90 to 100 people is now about one-third women, said Louise Auerhahn, the nonprofit’s director of economic and workforce policy, a big jump from just one woman in the pilot 2014 class who “was there because her boyfriend was there, too.”

“We’ve found that because there is such a social stricture that says construction is for men, you have to be really up front about, ‘This is for women, and that’s who we’re looking for,’” Auerhahn said. Working Partnerships USA now creates separate fliers, social media ads, photo campaigns and recruitment events to target women and nonbinary people.

But introducing women to the trades is just the first hurdle. Research shows that difficulty finding childcare is a central reason that women consider leaving the trades, creating a “massive barrier” to retention, said Beli Acharya, executive director of Construction Trades Workforce Initiative, a nonprofit that works with building trades councils, unions, and community organizations in Alameda, Napa, Contra Costa and Solano counties. California is among the most expensive states for childcare.

Pre-apprenticeship participants of the Trades Orientation Program in Santa Clara County at the Ironworkers Training Center of San Jose City College in San Jose on Sept. 17, 2024. Photo by Laure Andrillon for CalMatters

“So much of the industry’s collective efforts has been, ‘Hey, let’s get them in,’ but a lot of folks are dropping out after the first or second year of being an apprentice, and we’re not really achieving the ultimate goal of getting more women in leadership,” Acharya said. “Contractors are trying to figure out how to deal with it, unions are trying to figure out how to deal with it, because if we’re going to try and target more women, we need to address the needs of women.”

That challenge has prompted new efforts, fueled by the Department of Industrial Relations’ Equal Representation in Construction Apprenticeship or “ERiCA” grants, to provide childcare to those most in need. Between 2023 and 2025, the department awarded $2.1 million to the Construction Trades Workforce Initiative to identify around 200 single-parent apprentices and pre-apprentices to receive between $5,000 and $10,000 in childcare support.

Fifty-six people have received Construction Trades Workforce Initiative’s stipends so far, more than half of whom are women.

Sharon Brown, a 40-year-old painting apprentice from Oakland and a single parent to three kids, received an $8,000 stipend from the nonprofit. The stipend allowed Brown to hire a consistent caregiver to bring her six-year-old daughter to and from school during her early-morning shifts, rather than relying on family.

The stable routine has “helped in ways that I couldn’t even imagine,” Brown said, in part because her daughter is on the autism spectrum and nonverbal. Recently, the caregiver and her daughter came up with a personal handshake. “To see her remember the handshake and actually execute it out, it’s like — wow. It’s really paying off, the time you’re spending with her,” Brown said. “I can’t stop thinking about, what would it be like if I didn’t have this person to help?”

First: Emily Morse raises her hand to ask a question during class at San Jose City College in San Jose on Sept. 17, 2024. Last: Instructor Tom Ward welcomes Felicia Preston, a carpenter and a graduate of the Trades Orientation Program, as she shares her experience with current students, during a class at San Jose City College in San Jose on Sept. 17, 2024. Photos by Laure Andrillon for CalMatters

Organizations are also embracing mentorship for women. Tradeswomen, Inc., a Bay Area-based nonprofit, recruits women into pre-apprenticeship programs and guides them throughout the entire job-seeking process. “God’s honest truth, you’re going to face some discrimination, and we want you to be prepared,” said Felicia Hall, Tradeswomen Inc.’s workforce development manager. “We’re still there for them, we’re holding their hand, being their motivation and support system.”

During her pre-apprenticeship, Alvarez Castañeda likewise received a female mentor who helped her with apprenticeship practice tests, coached her through career decisions, and brought her on a last-minute trip to buy work boots and equipment when she began her sheet metal apprenticeship.

Alvarez Castañeda is on track to make $36 hourly this year — up from $26 hourly in her most recent job as a cook at Google’s Sunnyvale campus — and is building a pension. Plus, her two daughters think her job is “cool,” she added.

For women who are considering entering the trades, “Don’t think that you can’t do it,” Alvarez Castañeda said, “because you can.”

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Financial support for this story was provided by the Smidt Foundation and The James Irvine Foundation.

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