Menomonie, Wis. — University of Wisconsin-Stout construction major Mikayla Bartlett is one of 50 students nationwide who will attend a Women’s Construction Leadership Seminar in Colorado.
Bartlett, 23, a junior from Rockford, Minn., said she decided to major in construction because she wanted a job that was active and not at a desk every day.
“I wanted to do something different every day,” Bartlett said. “I wanted to be around different people. I wanted to do something more hands-on.”
Bartlett is looking forward to a program called Shark Tank during the Jan. 23-24 conference in Denver. Participants must create an activity that would encourage other women and girls to consider entering the construction field.
“I just think it will be a good challenge,” Bartlett said. “I was very excited to be a part of this.”
The focus of the conference is to develop leadership skills among women in college. Students will gain hands-on experience in technical labs, including welding, piping, electrical and safety. They will participate in a roundtable discussion with leaders from Kiewit, the event sponsor, and participate in a teamwork project ad presentation. Students will also hear presentations on confidence, change management and communications.
“The main reason I was interested was for the experience, the leadership role and I wanted to learn from other women,” Bartlett said.
Students interested in the seminar applied online.
Heath Wiley, program director for construction, wrote a letter of recommendation for Bartlett.
“She really works hard,” Wiley said of Bartlett. “I think she will really be successful if she continues her work ethic. I think the conference is going to be empowering for anyone who attends it”
Roughly about a dozen of the nearly 287 students in the UW-Stout construction program are women, Wiley said.
Chuck Bomar, dean of College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Management, said having women like Bartlett attend these conferences are a testament to her and the quality of the UW-Stout program.
"She will be a leader in the construction industry and a role model for all women in this career path for many years to come," Bomar said.
Kiewit is covering transportation and lodging costs for participants attending the conference, which is in its 10th year.
Kiewit is a Fortune 300 company, with revenues of more than $9 billion in 2015. It is one of North America’s largest construction and engineering organizations. The employee-owned company operates through a network of offices and projects in the United States, Canada and Australia. .
When she graduates, Bartlett wants to be an assistant superintendent overseeing, coordinating and scheduling projects.
Bartlett’s sister, Maddi, 21, is a junior at UW-Stout majoring in vocational rehabilitation.
UW-Stout’s Bachelor of Science degree in construction prepares students to lead and direct projects. The program focuses not only on technical and engineering processes, but also on the business, management and marketing aspects of the construction industry. The university has modern and well-equipped labs for hands-on experience and practical training, and co-op experience is required.
In 2017 about 7 percent of construction managers in the U.S. were women, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. In 2016 there were just over 10.3 million total construction workers in the U.S., of which 939,000 were women, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
