What if women built the world they want to see? | Emily Pilloton-Lam

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 8 March 2023

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Only four percent of construction workers are female -- that's totally unacceptable, but it's also a huge opportunity both for women and for the trades, says youth educator and builder Emily Pilloton-Lam. She makes the case for putting power (and power tools) into the hands of young women and gender-expansive youth, dreaming of inclusive construction sites and daring to ask: What if women built the world they want to see? (Plus, Pilloton-Lam dazzles with a live demo of her own woodworking skills ... while giving the talk.)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ted Audio Collective
0:11.0	It's Ted Talks Daily, I'm your host, Elise Hugh.
0:14.2	Imagine a construction site.
0:16.6	You're picturing a bunch of men, right?
0:18.5	Well, it would make sense because less than 5% of construction workers are female.
0:23.4	One of them is Builder Emily Poulitton-Lam.
0:26.5	So on this International Women's Day, we have Emily's 2021 Archive Talk from Ted
0:31.0	Women, which lays out why we should support women and girls in literally building our
0:36.6	world.
0:37.6	The talk, complete with the sound of power tools as she builds a toolbox throughout, is
0:42.7	after a sponsor message.
0:46.5	Picture a typical construction site.
0:50.6	The heavy machinery and the work trucks filled with lumber and steel.
0:58.6	Now picture the construction crew.
1:02.4	Hard at work in their day glow vests and hard hats.
1:08.4	Their tool belt slung over dusty dungaries.
1:13.1	Now picture the back crew is all women.
1:26.6	So if you just had a brief moment of cognitive dissonance, you're probably not the only one.
1:32.9	Our stereotypical image of the construction worker is male.
1:38.3	And by the numbers, it's not hard to see why.
1:42.5	Only 11% of the construction industry in the US is female.
1:47.7	And that includes operational positions.
	...

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