Superior Construction announced the 11 women selected to take part in its inaugural Superior Women in Construction (SWiC) initiative have graduated from the program.
Designed in collaboration with certified executive and team coach Dale Beaman and featured on the Women Talk Construction podcast, the internal program was developed to identify motivated individuals within the company and remove the barriers these women, and others like them, have faced in their effort to advance in an industry in which they're chronically underrepresented.
With the full support of company leaders who conceived and initiated the program, SWiC members were offered essential tools for their personal and professional development, including being paired with a mentor from the company's executive team and senior leadership.
Participants attended monthly group training sessions to learn, grow and share their experiences and individual career coaching sessions to personalize their professional development.
"The mentorship has been especially helpful because it gave me greater access to various aspects of our company and business operations," said SWiC member Amy Henningfield, who has been with the company since 2011. "It was collaborative and taught me a lot about the heavy civil industry."
Henningfield, who was mentored by Superior Chief Operations Officer Pete Kelley, was promoted from executive assistant to Midwest Contracts and Compliance Manager during the year-long program. Three other program members were promoted, and one additional participant moved into a new role that better aligned with her career goals and skills.
"There were also intangible benefits to participating in the program. It resulted in a great deal of leadership development and helped us build confidence," said SWiC member Jessica Paske. "At the beginning, a number of participants expressed feelings off self-doubt or imposter syndrome as women in this traditionally male-dominated industry. But, as the program progressed, we grew increasingly confident in our unique skills, perspectives and opportunities to contribute to the next generation of construction professionals."
As part of the program, SWiC members were encouraged to volunteer with organizations working to advance and empower women in construction. They organized or participated in various events, including:
- Sponsoring the Purdue Women in Construction Management's annual golf outing, including providing branded polo shirts for the program
- Participating in a nontraditional employment workshop for Porter County Care & Technical Education, introducing 8th grade female students to construction careers
- Sponsoring a Northwest Indiana Influential Women Association (NWIIWA) motivational luncheon and a mixer for the NWIIWA's Influential Women Awards
- Sponsoring polo shirts for the University of North Florida WIC Club and presenting on heavy civil project engineer career paths at a speaking event
- Attending numerous high school and university career fairs to recruit more women
- Participating in a career fair hosted by the PACE Center for Girls
- Speaking at a Job Corps Career Academy event and the American Heart Association's Women in STEAM event
The nearly year-long program launched on Nov. 2, 2022, and ended with a graduation ceremony on Oct. 12, 2023, at Epping Forest Yacht & Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla. Each participant received a graduation certificate and is now eligible to mentor the second class of the SWiC program.
Superior's leaders hope the Superior Women in Construction initiative will become an industry standard and transform mentees into mentors who can continue to advocate for other women in construction.
For more information, visit www.superiorconstruction.com.
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