Advancing Women in Construction: Fixing the Career Ladder — with Barb Allen

Missing, Broken, Sticky, and Slippery: Barb Allen on the 4 Rungs Holding Women Back in Construction

In this post: Author Barb Allen explains what advancing women in construction requires from every leader. She names the missing, broken, sticky, and slippery rungs on the career ladder and shows how to rethink recruiting and retreats.

When Barb Allen visits a job site that isn't used to her, someone usually hands her safety gear that is far too big.

"I look like I'm somebody's daughter visiting the job site for the day, when it's very possible I know more than 98% of the people on that project," Allen said on Activating Greatness, the leadership podcast from Velocity Advisory Group.

Allen has spent more than 30 years in construction, including a decade in the trades and most of her career as a commercial job site superintendent. Today she speaks and writes about advancing women in construction. She describes her career path as "boots on the ground to heels in the corner office." Her new book, One Ladder to Leadership, argues that the climb she made is still harder for women than it should be, and that fixing it is everyone's job.

The Same Ladder on Paper

Construction companies, Allen said, already believe they have one ladder.

"In our HR handbooks, it is the same ladder," she said. "We have one ladder, these are the steps, this is what you do." The reality, she said, is that many people do not experience it the same way, "especially if you are different in the industry."

The book names four challenges women face as they climb in construction and other predominantly male industries. Allen calls them rungs that are missing, broken, sticky, and slippery. The names help people recognize a rung when it fails, whether the problem affects them, someone who works for them, or someone they work for.

Her goal is not a separate ladder for women. She wants "one ladder that is better and safer, that provides an equitable climb for everyone."

A View From the Top

The book started with a conversation in 2022, when Allen was an operations director. She realized she had spent more than 25 years building a ladder for herself and had found great success on it.

"But I'm standing at the top of the ladder, and I'm looking around, and I didn't like the view," she said. What she saw was how little had changed for women since she entered the industry.

She left the built environment that year to speak full time. After one of her first keynotes on the ladder concept, audience members kept asking whether there was a book, so she wrote one.

"I'm standing at the top of the ladder, and I'm looking around, and I didn't like the view."

Barb Allen, Author, One Ladder to Leadership

Rethink the Obvious

Allen's own story shows how the pipeline leaks before anyone is hired. Her father owned an HVAC company. She walked jobs with him after church on Sundays and worked at a hardware store lumberyard through high school and college. Construction still never registered as an option.

"I saw someone in construction every single day, but they didn't look like me," she said. "So it's not that I didn't think I couldn't do it, it's that it never crossed my mind."

Her mother, a retired high school math teacher, expected her to go to college, and Allen grew up seeing construction as a job when she was supposed to have a career. In high school she played tennis, sang in the concert choir, and directed the school play. "I did nothing that anyone would have looked at me and said, she'd be great in construction," she said. She found construction management as a junior in college and knew immediately it was her field.

Companies repeat the same pattern when they decide who looks like the right person for a role and where to recruit. Allen's answer has become her tagline: rethink the obvious. What is obvious to you is also obvious to your competitors, so if you never question it, "you're on the same playing field as all of your competition."

Rethinking the Retreat

The part of her keynote that makes audiences shift in their seats concerns networking and team building. Golf outings, hunting trips, overnight fishing trips, and executive retreats remain the industry's default, and Allen said they often exclude women, mostly without intent.

She described one company whose executive team rents a large beach house every year. When the first woman joined the team, the company booked her a separate house, and she had to travel back and forth after dark. She missed the camaraderie that builds when everyone shares the same space.

The fix can be modest, such as holding the retreat at a resort where everyone has a room. "It's not about doing away with them, it's about doing them differently so that everyone feels comfortable," she said. The right foursome is "networking gold," she said, a natural place to find a sponsor or mentor. "If you're not in the cart, if you're not in the room, if you're not on the trip, you are missing out." Women, she added, "should not have to simply conform to fit in."

Advancing Women in Construction Needs Men in the Room

Women make up only 14% of the construction industry, Allen said, which means they cannot make the change alone. She wrote the book for leaders and climbers, men and women, and every chapter closes with actions for leaders and actions for climbers.

She understands the male perspective partly because early in her career she avoided other women on the job. "I wanted so badly to fit in and to be seen as one of the guys," she said. She wants the message to land as information and education, without "shame, blame, finger pointing."

Men still need a clear invitation, which is why an early chapter is a note to male readers. Allen compared the dynamic to a women's employee resource group where men are welcome but do not feel welcome, "just a little semblance of what women feel as we walk into most of the rooms."

Her standard is diversity of experience. Companies that celebrate all-female leadership teams miss the point, she said. "That is the opposite of what I'm trying to do." "When you have someone at the table who's had a different experience, you are going to expand your ability to innovate so much faster and so much further," she said.

Other women leading in construction have made related cases on Activating Greatness. Jackie Fisher of Juneau Construction Company laid out the business case for culture, and Maggie Reed of Gilbane Building Company explained how relentless resilience drives performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is One Ladder to Leadership by Barb Allen about?

One Ladder to Leadership examines four challenges women face as they climb the leadership ladder in construction and other predominantly male industries. Barb Allen describes them as missing, broken, sticky, and slippery rungs so readers can recognize each one. Every chapter ends with actions for leaders and actions for climbers. Allen's goal is one ladder that is better and safer and provides an equitable climb for everyone.

What percentage of the construction workforce is women?

Women make up 14% of the construction industry, according to Barb Allen, author of One Ladder to Leadership. That number means women cannot change the industry on their own. She urges men and women to approach the conversation with curiosity and learn from one another's experiences, because every woman's experience is different.

How can construction companies make networking events more inclusive?

Barb Allen recommends changing how events are run rather than eliminating them. Golf outings, hunting trips, and executive retreats often exclude women unintentionally, cutting them off from potential mentors and sponsors. One simple fix is holding an executive retreat at a resort where every attendee has a room, instead of a shared house with the only woman lodged elsewhere.

How can construction companies recruit more women?

Barb Allen's advice is to "rethink the obvious." Many people choose careers they saw family and friends pursue, and many girls never see someone like them in construction. Allen urges firms to widen where they recruit, question who looks like the obvious fit, and share stories of women already doing the work.

The Takeaway: Leaders Are Support Staff

Allen's best leadership advice: "The best leaders see themselves as support staff," she said. The job is making sure each person gets what they need to become the best superintendent, estimator, or accountant.

That mindset turns the ladder into a shared responsibility. Name the failing rungs and question the traditions that leave people out. Allen warned that leaders who lean on "if it's not broke, don't fix it" and never let anyone challenge them will fall behind. "You're going to get stale," she said.

Listen to the Full Episode

Hear Barb Allen's full conversation with host Alec McChesney on Activating Greatness. Find it on YouTube, or listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.