When the explosion thundered through the U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works, Renee Hough thought her life was over.
She was about 500 feet away when the blast went off in August. The experience left her in therapy for her mental health.
Nearly 30 years ago, her job in the male-dominated steel mill gave her the means to leave an abusive marriage. Now, 65 and nearing retirement, Hough — a utility technician coke loader — is still tested by the work.
According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, women made up just 4.3% of Pennsylvania’s broader construction and trades workforce in 2024, and many of these women’s careers — like Hough’s — are a culmination of the grit and resilience needed to chisel out space in a man’s world.
Women working in the trades face a multitude of challenges doing their jobs everyday.
Here are four of their stories.