Content submitted by Dan Phelps. Email news to news@westfordcat.org.
Nashoba Valley Technical High School recently held a unique and what school officials hope to be an annual event.
The first annual Women in Construction Panel featured five women who hold management positions in the construction industry who spoke to students in nontraditional technical areas about their experiences in the workplace, and how women are sometimes held to different standards in positions traditionally held by men.
Girls who are in nontraditional technical programs at Nashoba Tech — for example, Plumbing & Heating, Automotive Repair and Carpentry — attended the program in the school’s Performing Arts Center, as did girls in similar programs at other local technical schools, so they could hear from role models as they continue their education in nontraditional careers. In total nearly 120 students attended.
Michelle Jodar Stein, chairwoman of the Computing & Engineering Technology Department at Middlesex Community College in Bedford, told students that before becoming a professor, she held positions working at construction sites, and the men often treated her differently until she was able to show she was more than capable of doing the job.
“I’ve gone to job sites where guys are all shaking hands, and I put my hand out and nobody’s shaking it,” she said. “So I called them on it. I let them know, ‘I’m not your secretary, I’m managing this job.’
“I had one guy at a job site say, as I was walking away, ‘Where’s she going, to get her nails done?’ I wasn’t too happy — and I was the one who had to sign his permits.”
Jocelyn Cartier, a marine-machinery mechanic for the Portsmouth (N.H.) Naval Shipyard, admitted that it was tough at times when she first started.
“I wanted to stand out for what I know and what I can do,” she said. “But I felt every step I took was watched.”
Cartier told the students, “You’re only as powerful as you feel inside.”
When one student asked the panel if women are expected to dress and look differently at work sites, Ximena Cruz, a project engineer for Bond Brothers in Medford, said, “It’s not about how you look, it’s about what you know. I’ve told men at job sites, ‘It’s not about me and it’s not about you. It’s about the job site and getting the job done.’”
Carlie Biorn, a project manager for G. Greene Construction Company in Allston, said she still feels as if she is “always proving to people that I can do the job.”
But she advised the students, “You have to get to the point where you find that sweet spot — when you love what you’re doing and you know how to do it.”
After the speaking program, which was moderated by Catherine Schoenenberger, president of Stay Safe Traffic Products of Westford and the president-elect of the National Association of Women in Construction, the audience broke up into smaller groups and were able to have more intimate conversations with the panelists.
Nashoba Tech officials said they hope to make the panel discussion an annual event.
