> As to gender balance in professions: are there initiatives to get more ... women into plumbing or carpentry? Yes, there are. A lot of public construction pro

> As to gender balance in professions: are there initiatives to get more ... women into plumbing or carpentry? Yes, there are. A lot of public construction projects have goals for minorities and women as a percentage of the labor on the job site. Firms owned by women, minorities, and service-disabled veterans are given priority in the bidding process through different mechanisms. Most of the trade unions have programs to recruit women into the trades.