Discrimination and Diversity in the Built Environment

“I swear on my life, my guidance counselor looked me in the eyes and said 'a plumber? Why would you want to do that? Did you forget to apply to colleges or something?’” This is the first time Roman Montes, a service and repair plumber of 17 years, felt looked down on for his choice in career path. 

For some reason, there is this idea that people who choose the trades over a “traditional career” are less educated or did so out of desperation rather than desire. The funny part is, many tradespeople do more math and reading in one day than the average American does in a week or more. Plus, they’re troubleshooting live systems, managing job sites, running crews, and building businesses. Still, blue collar workers are often being treated like they “couldn’t hack it” in college and had to settle.  

As Montes put it: “People hear ‘plumber’ and assume that I barely passed high school. But I was an honor roll student with a ton of options.” 

This week, I got the chance to chat with a handful of men and women in the trades to hear about what this bias looks like firsthand, what it costs people, and why the trades are quietly becoming one of the most future-proof paths in America. 

The “Less Educated” Myth (and why it’s wrong) 

There’s a cultural script that says that you have to graduate high school, attend a 4-year college, and go on to get a job with your hard-earned bachelor’s degree. It’s a systemic ideal that, quite frankly, is incorrect.  

Yes, many trade careers don’t require a bachelor’s degree. But “no bachelor’s” isn’t the same thing as “no education.” Licensing, apprenticeships, classroom hours, continuing education, code updates—most trades are incredibly education-heavy, just not university-shaped. 

In fact, the U.S. Census Bureau’s education data has noted that installation, maintenance, and repair occupations have a very high share of workers whose highest education is a high school diploma or associate degree with added certifications. It’s not wrong or even worse than that norm; it’s just a different path. And because this bias is baked into how society talks about “success,” it hits hardest when people are already fighting for respect—women in construction, apprentices learning on the job, and workers of color navigating additional stereotypes. 

Discrimination Against Blue Collar Careers 

This discrimination isn’t always loud. It’s often more like a vibe change or a sideways look. Most tradespeople can think back to a moment where they felt looked at as “less than” simply based on their career. 

For women especially, that “vibe” can turn into direct harassment, constant testing, or being treated like a novelty. It matters that women’s share of the construction workforce has been rising—11.2% in 2024, the highest share in about two decades—but that number also shows how male-dominated the space still is. Jael Schlafer, field engineer with 19 years in construction described it like this: “I’ll say I work in construction and sometimes people just straight up don’t believe me. And then what's worse is that instead of finding what I do inspiring or interesting, some men will feel like they need to test me on my knowledge as if they’re trying to prove that they know more than me, simply by being a man.” 

Jael explained that since starting her career at the age of 18, everyone has been telling her to reevaluate her choices. But she insists that she wanted to be in construction and never let them talk her out of it.  

“I had to prove to so many people that I was better than the boys, which isn’t fair. None of them had to prove that they were better than anyone. Hell, none of them even needed to prove that they were more than adequate.”   

Income Myths 

Another common misconception about trades is that they don’t pay well, and electricians and contractors will struggle financially. The truth is plenty of blue-collar work pays well. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: 

Now, that doesn’t mean that every trade job is instantly high paying. Income can be uneven early on, especially for apprentices, and work can be seasonal in some regions. Plus, benefits vary wildly by employer, union presence, and location. 

Still, there’s a major financial point people skip: many trade paths let you earn while you learn, often with less student debt. 

Caleb Erikson, a friend and electrical contractor, explained it like this: “My buddies with degrees were paying loans while taking internships with companies that would hardly pay them minimum wage. But I was getting licensed and collecting paychecks at the same time.” 

Even when pay is decent, bias can squeeze earnings in sneaky ways: 

And there’s also the social pressure: families and schools often push college as the only “good” route, which can make tradespeople feel like they need to justify their career, even when they’re thriving. 

Trades and AI 

There is something that trades benefit from more so than any other career: a ton of white-collar work is getting reshaped quickly by AI—especially when it comes to tasks that happen on a computer: drafting, analysis, content, coding assistance, routine paperwork etc. 

But wiring a building, installing an electrical panel, diagnosing a short circuit, sweating copper, fixing a leak behind a wall, coordinating a concrete pour… those aren’t “copy/paste” jobs. Physical work in messy real-world environments is notoriously difficult to automate end-to-end. 

Recent reporting has highlighted how AI disruption is hitting some white-collar fields while skilled trades remain in demand, with labor shortages pushing more interest toward vocational pathways. 

Erikson laughed when I asked him about his fears about AI. “If an AI can crawl through an attic in August and still wire a three-way correctly, I’ll retire. Until then, I’m not worried.” 

That doesn’t mean trades will never use AI—of course they will. You’ll see more smart diagnostics, better estimating software, improved safety tools, and training simulators. But the core work is still grounded in physical reality. And reality is stubborn. 

Final Thoughts 

Respecting blue collar work and setting aside preconceived notions doesn’t mean romanticizing trades or pretending that they’re perfect. It means dropping the lazy assumptions and seeing the work more clearly. Many trades require licenses, code knowledge, and years of training—so don’t use a 4-year university as the only marker of intelligence. 

“I don’t need people to clap when I say I work in construction. I think I just need them to stop acting so surprised that I’m competent,” Jael says. “The trades were never a consolation prize for me. They’re a path—a real one. A smart one for a lot of folks.” 

The built environment keeps the world running. They offer real income, real career mobility, and increasingly real security in an economy where “safe” office jobs aren’t as safe as they used to be. 

Montes explains, “When your toilet explodes at 2 a.m., you probably won’t ask for my degree or my GPA. You’ll probably ask how fast I can get there.”