PWC Honors Richard Wood for Contributions to Women in Construction

For the first time, Professional Women in Construction has included a man among its honorees of industry professionals for their outstanding careers and contributions to empowering women in the AEC industry. The PWC board of directors historically grants this award to women, however, they selected Richard Wood, CEO of Plaza Construction, as the first male among  the organization’s 2019 Honorees for Wood’s role in helping women in construction to advance and achieve their careers.

In addition to Wood, the roster of 2019 Honorees chosen by the board of PWC include Joanne Minieri, executive vice president of RXR Construction Services; Heather Philip O’Neal, managing principal, Terrence O’Neal Architect and Tanya Pope, assistant vice president, University Supplier Diversity & Program Integration, Columbia University.

According to PWC Executive Director Chelsea LeMar, “It is important for management in a male-dominated industry to support and advance the careers of women and promote diversity within the fields of architecture, engineering and construction. We feel that leadership has a role in making this goal a reality and that is why we nominated our first male recipient.”

Women make up a small proportion of the construction workforce, around 9% nationally, although it is one of the few industries with virtually no gender pay gap. In construction, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics, women earn an average of 91.3% of what men earn, making it the highest paying industry for women.

“At Plaza Construction, our workforce is currently 25% female and there isn’t a job in construction that a woman can’t do as well if not better than a man,” says Wood. “Last year, Plaza took steps to close the workforce gender gap and encourage more women to enter the construction industry by posting signs at its jobsites from Brooklyn [New York] to Miami [Florida] that read ‘Men and Women at Work.’ The signs were a statement to demonstrate that men and women work as equals with shared responsibilities for the projects and clients they represent.”

Plaza did not post the more generic ‘People at Work’ signs because they wanted to raise awareness and consciousness that women are included in the industry and create a more gender-neutral workplace environment. The company maintains a policy of acceptance and has instituted mentoring programs for female employees, separate bathroom facilities for women on construction sites, support for women balancing life and family (via maternity leave, for instance) and more. With these programs, the company hopes to encourage more women to pursue a career in the construction industry.