About the Brief

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This brief, produced under the Apprenticeship Evidence-Building and Administrative Data Research and Analysis portfolios of studies, examines how the rates of utilization for women and people of color differ between onsite construction (i.e., boilermakers, brickmasons, blockmasons, stonemasons, carpenters, carpet installers, etc.), and similar occupations (i.e., forest and conservation technicians, landscaping and groundskeeping workers, derrick operators, rail car repairers, aircraft structure assemblers, motorcycle mechanics, etc.). The study team calculated the utilization gap—the percentage point difference between the share of workers in similar occupations and the share of workers in onsite construction—for each demographic group.

Key Takeaways

• Onsite construction occupations employ a substantially lower percentage of women than similar occupations.
• Onsite construction occupations employ a substantially lower percentage of Asian workers and Black or African American workers than similar occupations.
• Onsite construction occupations employ a substantially higher percentage of Hispanic or Latinx workers than similar occupations.
• Utilization gaps for people of color do not vary substantially across States.
• States with the widest utilization gaps for women tend to be in the Midwest.
• Many of the local economic areas with the widest utilization gaps for Black or African American workers and Hispanic or Latinx workers are in the Southeast. These wide gaps represent opposite patterns for these two groups. For Black or African American workers, the wide gaps in the Southeast represent higher rates of employment in similar occupations compared to onsite construction occupations whereas the wide gaps for Hispanic or Latinx workers represent higher rates of employment in onsite construction compared to similar occupations.

Citation

Munkacsy, K., Wakar, B., Perez-Zetune, V., Cody, S. (2023). Insight Policy Research. Onsite Construction Workforce Utilization by Sex and Race/Ethnicity. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.