Consider Roxanna Horschel, president of Acme Fence Co.

Horschel started the business with her father in 1977 and took over sole ownership in 1982.

“Back then, it was an obstacle just to be taken seriously,” she said. “It couldn't be that you actually started a company - you either inherited it from your husband, got it through a divorce or your father left it to you. There really wasn't any experience dealing with women in the construction industry.”

There are nearly 900,000 women working in construction today, according to the National Association of Women in Construction, an international nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the success ratio of women in construction. They include women whose careers range from business ownership to the skilled trades.

Tamie Taylor, national president of NAWIC, said the tide is changing, but not quickly.

“We're seeing the same issues,” she said. “Women in this industry constantly have to prove themselves. But it's a prime opportunity for women to get in there. In my view, because most women are natural multi-taskers, they are natural project managers. If they like to use tools, they can get in the trades. If not, there's architects, interior designers - the field is wide open.”

Women who own construction-related businesses arguably face bigger hurdles than those involved in the crafts trades.

“People have accused us of getting business because we're woman-owned, and that's very demeaning,” Horschel said. “What those same people don't realize is it's that attitude that has kept the (U.S. Department of Transportation's) Disadvantaged Business Enterprise and (U.S. Small Business Administration's) 8(a) programs going.”

These same women must also oftentimes oversee a staff of mostly male employees. Horschel once had an employee tell her he didn't want to take orders from a woman, “so I turned it around and told him he didn't have to.”

She fired him.

Taylor said it's often harder for a woman who's put in a management position. “You're not just these guys' co-worker; you're their boss. The trust relationship sometimes isn't there.”

Laurie Ashby is 51 percent owner of ALH Survey Consultants LLC, along with partner Marty Hodson, who owns the remaining 49 percent.

“I'm 51 percent owner, but I do 100 percent of the work,” Ashby said.

Ashby worked in the field as a surveyor for nearly 30 years before starting her own survey business in 2006.

Originally from Copper Center, a town of less than 400 people just west of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park headquarters, Ashby started working as a surveyor as a young adult. She got her start during construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.

Before she quit four years ago, Ashby had been a survey supervisor for 15 years for the Northern Region, which encompassed 400 miles and six pump stations.

“Back in those days, I can remember people hurling insults out the window at me,” Ashby said. “There were no women in construction in the early '70s. It's become much more widely accepted now. I just got back from Copper Center, where there was a big road job going on, and there were lots of women operators. That's good to see.

“The beauty of being a surveyor is that it's the perfect meld of physical and mental labor,” Ashby added. “It's a beautiful career path, but a very challenging one physically. It's not an easy job. I've worked in some pretty extreme conditions.”

Horschel said she can't conjure up a lot of sympathy for “the cheaters,” women who simply front a business for someone else.

“They don't have the respect, nor should they. The ones that have really worked, they do get the respect,” she said.

During the early days, Horschel said it wasn't uncommon for her to put in 70-hour weeks. She said she's since scaled back to about 40 hours per week.

“There are some very successful women that have proven themselves,” she said. “With that, I think the good old boys' system is taking these women seriously.”

Horschel, who served as president of the Associated General Contractors of Alaska in 2004, said sticking it out has its advantages. She recalled a recent AGC luncheon when she found herself surrounded by “friendship and mutual respect.

“The obstacles we've overcome, the education I've received - you can't imagine,” she said. “There are so many experiences we share.”

With age also comes wisdom. Instead of trying to manage the entire operation alone, Horschel said she now employs “very good people to help take the pressure off.”

In spite of all the obstacles she's faced as a woman in a largely male-dominated industry, Ashby said she feels incredibly lucky.

“Everyone been so helpful,” she said. “As a business owner, they don't seem to put me down because I'm a woman. I think having a female governor has helped. I think the tide is turning.”