Women in the construction trades don’t have much progress to celebrate this Labor Day.

Construction offers a wide range of challenging, satisfying, well-paid careers that appeal to women as well as men. Yet, over the last three decades, women have gained no ground in this industry. We still represent only 2.3 percent of construction occupations, according to the Department of Labor’s most recent statistics.

Back in 1978, when I began my career as an electrician, expectations were high that this gross underrepresentation would soon change.