Photo: Mikael Blomkvist | Pexels
As the US transitions away from fossil fuels, many more electricians are needed, and that offers many new opportunities for women. Tonya Hicks, who started her own firm in Atlanta in 2000 and today has a staff of nine specializing in renewable energy projects and home retrofits, compares the transition to World War II, when millions of women took jobs in factories. The US will need one million more electricians, and the Inflation Reduction Act will increase demand by creating incentives for Americans to electrify their homes and buy electric vehicles. But barriers for women include harassment and abuse, exclusionary unions, childcare, lack of support for caregivers, and lack of visibility. “We don’t share [enough] stories of women in the trades to show that they are also moms, daughters, friends and cousins and that they are able to support their families on this kind of work,” says plumber Allie Perez, who founded Texas Women in the Trades in 2013. This article shares some of those stories.
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