For the first time, women make up half of the country's workers, and more and more of them work in jobs traditionally held by men.
At KPostCompany, a Dallas roofing company, half of the salaried employees are women, which is unusual for a construction company.
"They're more organized, very committed, very loyal, more tenacity," said Steve Little, president. "They seem to be a lot more tenacious to want to achieve than many men have been in these traditional roles."
Jayne Williams, the CFO and safety director, said that's required if a woman wants to succeed in a male-dominated industry.
"That's the only way they're going to accept her," she said. "She has to be able to do what they do, only better."
Williams said her motivation for taking her first construction job 20 years ago was simple.
"When you're supporting a family -- and I had a small son -- you took the job that made the most money," she said.
Women are increasingly taking on the role of breadwinner. According to the recently released Shriver Report, 62.8 percent of American mothers bring home at least a quarter of their families' earnings. And nearly four in 10 moms are the primary breadwinners, earning majority of their families' earnings.
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Williams said she has noticed the changes in the workforce.
"It is easier to be a woman today than it was when I started out my first job in the '80s, because I was the only woman that did a lot of the things I do now," she said.
Aileen Struble, a senior projects manager and estimator whose work garnered KPost the nation's highest construction award, said she has also seen changes.
"In the beginning, there was kind of the 'good ol' boy' network, especially in roofing," she said. "Women were in secretarial positions."
