As the skilled trades industry continues to evolve to address labor shortages, women in the trades are becoming increasingly critical to bridging the gap. Still, women make up only 11% of construction workers and 4% of the skilled trades workforce.
Elizabeth Silva, a plumbing apprentice in Denver, is one of those women.
Through a Lowe’s Foundation Gable Grant recipient, The Master’s Apprentice, Elizabeth began her journey and is empowering women like her to excel in plumbing. It offers hands-on training and resources women need to thrive in a male-dominated field. A single mom, Elizabeth decided to pursue a career that not only offered a better future for her son but also provided stability.
I decided to pursue skill trades because I was done working dead-end jobs and wanted to give me and my son a better future. I looked up nonprofits that could help me start my journey in the trades, and I found The Master's Apprentice. I got hands-on training and found exactly what I wanted to do. It changed my life.
One year shy of her plumber's license, Elizabeth says that five years ago, she could have never imagined the career she has today. She loves the freedom, autonomy and craftsmanship her work provides. Now, there is no limit to how far she can take her career, and she’s eager to grow. That sentiment is shared by many women in the skilled trades.
In a study of women in construction being released in March conducted by Ambition Theory and the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER), a Lowe’s Foundation national partner, 87% of responding participants indicated they were interested in career growth opportunities within their roles and at their skilled trades organizations. That career mobility also can help solve a problem for the industry as more skilled workers age out of their professions.
With its grant from the Lowe’s Foundation, The Master’s Apprentice has been able to provide extensive training to future skilled trades leaders. Luis Villarreal, the organization’s founder, says the grant allowed his program to expand its resources and outreach to students.
When you give an opportunity to someone, the promise of the American dream, and you take her hand and you walk her forward and you give her the skills and the right training, she will do well. Elizabeth represents all those women who are a minority in the field and yet has the boldness and resilience to charge forward and make it work.
While the Gable Grant has helped provide Elizabeth with the resources to get started, it is her perseverance and dedication that have carried her to where she is today.
The Lowe's Foundation is committed to closing the skilled trades labor gap across the United States, with a five-year, $50 million commitment to train 50,000 job-ready skilled tradespeople. Its mission is to develop a community of skilled tradespeople who can build and revitalize homes, neighborhoods and the nation’s infrastructure for the future.
Her commitment to build a career in a male-dominated field – while raising her son – is not lost on Elizabeth. So, the work is personal.
My little boy looks up to his mom, and he's so excited to tell everybody that I am a plumber. To me, it's amazing. I want him to be like, ‘Wow, my mom, she went into a male-dominated field and did it. She's where she's at right now because she put in the hard work while raising me.’
