Key Takeaways:
- Women make up only 11% of the construction workforce, despite a 45% participation increase from 2016 to 2025.
- Women of STEEL, launched in 2022 within AGCMO, connected more than 500 women in its first year through mentoring, leadership workshops and career programming.
- The Women of STEEL model, built on open membership and mixed programming, is scalable and already being adopted by other AGC chapters.
- Construction employers can advance workforce diversity by formalizing mentorship, partnering with colleges, resourcing employee groups and tracking promotion rates.
Women Are Changing the Construction Industry
Women’s participation in construction is rising steadily and reshaping the workforce at every level. Fixr, citing U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, reported a 45% increase in women working in construction from 2016 to 2025, spanning office roles and field positions. Women still represent about 11% of the construction workforce, and challenges like pay gaps and bias persist. Organizations that provide visibility, skills training and sponsorship help translate that growing interest into real advancement.
What Is Women of STEEL and How Does It Work?
Women of STEEL is an open-membership group within the Associated General Contractors of Missouri, launched in 2022 to close a gap its founders saw and decided to act on. AGCMO President Len Toenjes, Past Board Chair Ed Twehous and VP of Advocacy Denise Hasty led a working group of marketers, operations leaders and AGC staff that built a charter and opened membership to any woman at an AGCMO firm. That decision extended an invitation across every role, from HR and estimating to project management and the trades, with more than 500 women connecting in the first year. Programming includes leadership workshops, panels regarding work-life integration, mentoring and an annual conference that pairs skill-building with candid dialogue. In 2025, the Build HER Future event brought 75 students together with 30 industry professionals for mentorship and direct conversation about career pathways.
How Can Employers and Leaders Adopt This Model?
The model works because it’s simple to adopt and easy to scale. Open membership, mixed programming and measured outreach are the core components, and other AGC chapters are already adapting the template. For mid- and senior-level leaders, the steps are practical: make mentorship a standing program with accountability, partner with local colleges to host exposure events each semester and resource employee groups with time and budget. Ensure proper PPE sizing, sponsor career pathways, and track results such as promotion rates and retention to guide what comes next. Companies that invest in these practices will compete more effectively for talent as labor markets tighten and project delivery expectations rise.
(Note: AI assisted in summarizing the key points for this story.)