NorthWest Asianweekly, News Report, Posted: Sep 19, 2011

 Today, wearing power suits, women dominate certain industries. But not many are wearing hard hats.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2008, while women made up 34 percent of lawyers, 61 percent of accountants, and 79 percent of social workers, they made up only 8 percent of construction managers.

With so few women in construction, Asian women in construction are scarce.

“Asians, in general, are very rare in the construction field. Asian females are extremely rare,” said Susan Ulep, former assistant project manager for CM&D and a former project engineer at Skanska.

Most construction sites are rugged, with bulldozers rolling, jackhammers blaring, and dust flying. At first glance, they seem neither ideal nor appealing to most women.

Standing 4′11″, with long, wavy hair, Ulep described herself as “pretty much the exact opposite of what you’d think of when you think the word ‘construction.’ ”

Like Ulep, other Asian females in construction stand out.

Working in a place flooded with men, Asian females in construction face many challenges. While physicality alone raises doubts in terms of performance, onlookers wonder how well these women handle the long hours, extreme environment, and having so many male coworkers.

However, some have made it. They have proven that, with hard work and persistence, Asian women can survive, and even excel, in a line of work dominated by men. Read more here.