![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Amanda-Keener-MAIN.jpg\")
<\/a>Amanda Keener, a construction engineering technology student at UToledo, discovered her future through her experiences on her second co-op rotation with the Douglas Co. in Holland.<\/p><\/div>\n
And as part of Women in Construction Week March 6-12, the College of Engineering is using social media to shine a spotlight on its women construction engineering students like Amanda Keener.<\/p>\n
It was through her experiences on her second co-op rotation with the Douglas Co. in Holland that Keener, a construction engineering technology student at UToledo, discovered her future.<\/p>\n
“I hope my career path will be becoming a cost estimator,\u201d said Keener, a senior from Dublin, Ohio. \u201cDuring my first co-op at the Douglas Co., I was able to experience project management. On my second rotation, I switched over to preconstruction. I fell in love with estimating, using math and problem-solving skills to accurately estimate a project. I’d like to become a certified professional estimator.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Hill, who also studies construction engineering technology at UToledo, has completed three co-ops, the last two in Seattle, where she worked on a heavy civil engineering construction project.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy co-op in Seattle is when I fell in love with bridges,\u201d Hill said. \u201cI even secured a full-time position as a field engineer nine months before I graduated, and it\u2019s with the company that I set my sights on during my freshman year.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing is better than having a full-time job lined up before you start your last semester, especially with an amazing company.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are happy to join the nation in celebrating and supporting Women in Construction Week,\u201d said Dr. Mike Toole, dean of the College of Engineering.\u00a0\u201cOur nation has made significant progress in our efforts to increase the number of women in the construction industry, but we still have far to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore women are needed not only because of the serious skilled labor shortage in the industry but also because meeting construction project goals of cost, schedule, innovation and safety require diverse, high-performing teams that only benefit by including women.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Lesley Berhan, associate dean for diversity, inclusion and community engagement and associate professor of mechanical, industrial and manufacturing engineering, said recognition is important, but leveling the percentages of men and women in the industry is the goal.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere in the College of Engineering, women make up 22% of the undergraduate student population. The percentage of female undergraduate students in civil engineering and construction engineering technology is 18.5% and 12.4%, respectively,\u201d Berhan said. \u201cSo as we recognize the work and achievements of women in the construction industry, we also continue to work toward increasing their numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Much of the work is through ensuring that students such as Rebecca Monnette, a civil engineering major, feel supported throughout their UToledo journey.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Katelyn Nadeau is one of many success stories coming from the Construction Engineering Technology program. She will complete her degree in spring 2023 and has already secured a full-time job.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cBeing a woman in STEM comes with the anticipation of obstacles related to gender; however, the advisors at UToledo have been the most encouraging part of my pursuit of an engineering degree,\u201d Monnette said. \u201cWithout the assistance and recommendations of both my co-op and academic advisors, finding my footing with my first experience in the field would have been 10 times more difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryan Bosch, manager of engineering diversity, inclusion and community engagement, said there are continuing efforts locally and nationally to make the population within engineering, and specifically, the construction industry, more representative of the U.S. population.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur corporate partners within the construction industry support our programs and initiatives to educate more young women about their options within engineering and help to motivate them to become the next generation of construction professionals building our new physical, transportation and energy infrastructure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
And that work is paying off.<\/p>\n
Katelyn Nadeau is one of many success stories coming from the Construction Engineering Technology program. Even as Nadeau works to complete her degree in spring 2023, she has already secured a full-time job with the same company where she is currently on co-op, Johnson Controls Inc.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a freshman, it was quickly apparent that my major\u2019s population consisted of mostly males,\u201d Nadeau said. \u201cDuring the past three years in this program, I\u2019ve only met a handful of female peers and professors, but while we were always outnumbered, it was a wonderful feeling to be included in the type of education that would normally be seen as something only men would do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel empowered at school and in my workplace because I\u2019m proving that I can do the job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her advice to younger women considering the construction industry for their careers is to \u201ctake the leap.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many different paths to take within this industry and so many options if you don\u2019t think one specific thing is right for you,\u201d Nadeau said. \u201cWhile it is currently a mostly male-dominated career, don\u2019t be afraid to reach out to your female classmates, teachers and advisors. There are people in place to help you succeed on this route.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Women make up about 10% of the construction industry\u2019s workforce. The University of Toledo is working to help change that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":756,"featured_media":72092,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,73,34,1,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72090"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/756"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72090"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72093,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72090\/revisions\/72093"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>