Female electricians are still rare - By Arthur Kimball-Stanley, The Providence Journal, RI
In 2000, only 2.9 percent of electricians in the United States were women, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2005, that number dropped to 2.7 percent.
The number of women who work in construction trades overall has been slowly rising. It has grown from 1.9 percent to 3 percent over the past five years. And though the Bureau of Labor Statistics only began keeping detailed statistics in 2000, anecdotal evidence makes clear that 30 years ago a woman at a construction site was almost unheard of. Compared to other traditionally male-dominated fields, such as law enforcement and the military, the construction industry has proven almost stationary in terms of getting women on the job. According to the BLS, the number of women in law-enforcement and military ranks has swelled to nearly 15 percent of both professions.
Why the difference?