I’ve often heard that few women work in construction supervision. In fact, I’ve never seen any. Of course I’m familiar with a few female Project Managers, but no Construction Supervisors. I was pleasantly surprised, then, in the last two days to read two stories about women who won awards for their work in construction supervision.

The Courrier News in Elgin, IL has an article about Shelley Costello of TranSystems, the construction supervisor on a downtown streetscape project. The downtown businesses presented her an award for excellent customer service. The funny hook in the article stated that they hardly recognized Shelley at the awards banquet. They were accustomed to seeing her in concrete caked work boots and an orange vest, but now saw her in a sparkling black dress with her hair done.  I take that as a sartorial challenge for Construction Supervisors everywhere.

In another news article, Holly Bowers, a 29 year old Construction Supervisor in Raleigh, NC, helped win a Gold Award in the local Parade of Homes. She started with Oak City Homes as a bookkeeper, but grew fascinated with construction and was given the opportunity to move into construction supervision. Having her first project win a Gold Award is quite a feather in her cap.

So a few reports of female Construction Supervisors doesn’t make a trend, but hopefully it encourages more women to enter this rewarding occupation. As Winny said, “You have nothing to fear but fear itself.”