Non-traditional career paths are defined by the state of Michigan as jobs that are dominated by one gender. For women, non-traditional career paths include architecture and construction, information technology, transportation and more. We spoke with three different women who are making an impact in some male-dominated fields.
“Catherine DeDecker. I work for Spalding DeDecker. I’m Vice President and Business Development Manager and Marketing Manager.”
“My name is Brittany Clark. I am currently a Heavy Bridge Highway Laborer.”
“My name is Lisa Juleff. I am a Senior Quality Manager for Barton Malow.”
Of the 17 career clusters that are listed on the state of Michigan’s website, 15 are defined as male or female dominated. of those 15, 11 are considered nontraditional for females. Catherine DeDecker’s career path led her to become a land surveyor and then Vice President and Business Development Manager and Marketing Manager. There are many things that she loves about this industry but seeing a project go from an idea to something impactful is her favorite.
“What I like best about working in surveying you get to see a blank slate. So you might see a field of just grass, tall grass, there is nothing there and you go out and do the mapping of the site and the engineer takes your map and designs the site and the architect designs the buildings and then when that’s done you get to see the progress of where the land started as a blank slate to where it’s finished, like if you were building a school, you get to see the school being built, you get to see the whole construction process of where you started and what it ends up to be and how that impacts the students in that area, maybe,” said DeDecker.
Research done in 20-20 showed that of all the women that are working full time in the United States, only 6.5% are working in male dominated industries. In construction, that number is slightly higher at 10%. Bridge Construction Laborer Brittany Clark stated that the benefits of this career path far outweigh anything negative.
“…the best benefits in the state of Michigan health wise that my employer pays so I don’t have to pay for health insurance. In the laborers we get a vacation check twice a year so every May and November we get a check for days that we have worked and the pension and annuity are some of the best in the state so those are really key factors for me too, because if I were to go somewhere else, I’d be losing a portion of my check for my benefits. I wouldn’t have a pension. Those were some other key factors that I liked about laborers,” said Clark.
Lisa Juleff worked her way up from a construction sign turner, to Senior Quality Manager at one of the longest serving construction companies in the area. She has paved the way for women interested in construction.
“I’ve broken ground for many of you that are not tendered hearted. I would tell you that this field is very rewarding in the fact that there is both individual and team rewards, if you will. There is great satisfaction in being able to drive and now I’m building buildings, right, but there’s great satisfaction in driving down 10 to 15 roads on your way to the shopping mall and you can say to your friends, ‘you know, I was a part of building this road.’ There is a pride that comes within that you have made a difference and it’s visible. So it builds a lot of confidence, courage for those that want to go play in the dirt, if you will,” Juleff said.
There are many opportunities for women to make impacts in non-traditional career paths and these ground breaking women have a last bit of advice to give.
“I say stop. It’s your fear that’s holding you back, right? There’s been many, many advancements, like even in my old field. We used to call it the good ol’ boys club and if you were a girl you were stuck on the end of a stop/slow paddle and it takes great courage and determination to go after your dreams and I would say ‘stop being afraid’. Sometimes you have to do it afraid. I would never propose the idea of fake it till you make it, because you’re still operating in fear, and that restricts you and it restricts your growth. I would say stop. I would say go look for women like me that have paved the road for you and see what they did to stand up, to posture themselves with confidence and that’s what’s going to promote more of you to get into this field. There is really nothing to be afraid of except your own confidence level. So build upon that,” Juleff said.
“There is a lot of things I would say but the biggest thing is, yes, it’s male dominated, but if you enjoy it, stick with it, have fun with it and just show everyone that you can do what you do best,” DeDecker said.
For more information on non traditional career paths, full interviews, and link to our statistics, check out our website at wbhsmedia.com. I’m Lara Mahmoud reporting for Laker Update.
