In 2024, more women launched their own businesses to break into traditionally male-dominated fields, including construction and skilled trades. According to a new report from the business review platform Yelp, female entrepreneurs opened over 15,000 home services businesses, marking the second consecutive year of record growth in this sector. This shift reflects a broader movement of women carving out space in these fields, where they have historically been underrepresented.
In 2024, female entrepreneurs continued to expand their presence across various industries, launching tens of thousands of new businesses on Yelp and adding to the over half a million women-owned ventures on the site. Yelp’s latest report on new business launches in the service industries indicates that women opened 15,016 businesses in the home services sector last year. This surpasses the 10,609 new businesses women started in beauty services, a field traditionally associated with female entrepreneurs. Yelp’s analysis, based on businesses where owners identified themselves as “women-owned,” found that home services was the service sector that has seen the highest growth in women-owned businesses for the second year in a row.
Growth Rate Of Women-Owned Home Services Businesses Exceeds The National Average
Within home services, siding, air duct cleaning, and fireplace service businesses were among the new businesses that experienced the most growth among women. Additionally, the number of new women-owned ventures in other traditionally male-dominated fields like plumbing, masonry and concrete, and appliance repair expanded at a pace exceeding the national average.
The percentage growth in the number of women’s home service businesses may partly be attributed to the fact that women still represent only a tiny percentage of those employed in construction and the trades. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2022, women comprised less than 4% of those in construction and only just over 4% in installation, maintenance, and repair occupations. With such a small representation, even a modest increase in the number of women starting new home services businesses would result in a significant percentage of growth.
Nonetheless, there’s evidence that women are entering these fields in more significant numbers, both as business owners and employees. One in seven new construction jobs last year went to women, and about 14% of those in apprentice programs were women, nearly double the number in 2014. Last fall, the U.S. Department of Labor announced $6 million in funding to help recruit, train, and retain more women in apprenticeship programs and nontraditional occupations.
Now is an opportune time for women to enter these fields. The Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts an 11% growth in electrician employment over the next decade, significantly outpacing the average for all occupations. A whopping 80,200 electrician job openings are expected each year for the next decade. The National Association of Home Builders has highlighted a “dire need” for construction workers, while Bloomberg projects that the U.S. will face a shortfall of 550,000 plumbers by 2027.
Women In Construction And The Trades Still Face Obstacles
While more women are entering these male-dominated fields, there’s also evidence that they’re more likely than men to leave them. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 44.4% of women in construction and the trades have seriously considered leaving the industry. The most commonly cited reason is a lack of respect or experiences of discrimination. Many women also report that their concerns are often dismissed or not taken seriously.
Additional research has identified several other factors driving women out of the trades, including a male-dominated culture, lack of employer support for tradeswomen, sexual harassment, wage disparities, inadequate facilities, and ill-fitting personal protective equipment (PPE). One woman interviewed by the researchers highlighted the challenges of finding correctly fitting PPE on a job, stating, “Most PPE, including fall protection harnesses, safety shoes, gloves, are all too large for me, posing a safety hazard. PPE for men is readily available. However, it took them several months to get the PPE that could fit me.”
However, starting their own home services businesses may offer women a way to bypass many of these challenges. As their own bosses, they can create safer, more inclusive work environments and ensure they have correctly fitting PPE. Yet, obstacles remain. Many women in the field likely still face skepticism from clients accustomed to seeing men in these roles. Overcoming these biases will take time, but as more women establish themselves in construction and the trades, they help reshape industry norms and pave the way for future generations.