The vibrance of the Lone Star State’s economy has been attracting huge numbers of people migrating from other states and countries which, in and of itself, has created a huge demand for new housing and road construction projects. A recent report by the Associated General Contractors of America shows that construction jobs are not only on the rise nationwide, but in a big way in Texas. The state added 21,000 construction jobs in 2023 alone, and the industry shows no signs of slowing in the San Antonio region where population growth is currently the highest in the U.S.
With expansion comes evolution. A vastly greater number of skilled engineers and construction science professionals with college degrees are necessary to lead the way in this boom era of construction projects. Maksim Golubovskiy, project manager for Webber, has seen that transformation firsthand. He says the construction management workforce has seen a surge of recent college graduates and employees in their 30s and 40s.
“I’ve been with Webber for about 8. years, and even in the time that I’ve been here, I have seen a significant shift. When I started here, the ages were a bit higher. Most of my superiors were in their mid-50s, but that has very rapidly changed. I think that’s in part to the expansion of the industry,” Golubovskiy says. “That’s been a really positive shift because there’s a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm for the industry.”
Aside from just a shift in age groups, the number of women, while still the minority, is slowly growing in the male-dominated construction field. In the U.S., nearly 1.2 million women now work in construction and make up 9.9% of the industry, according to the National Association of Women in Construction. However, the state with the largest number of women working in construction is Texas, which boasted more than 137,000 female construction workers in its last count in 2022. For reference, Golubovskiy says half of the engineers on the project he leads are women.
“It’s been great to see that. It’s more difficult as a woman to break into the field,” he says. “Whenever I have female employees, I feel there’s never a question if they’re really interested in construction.”
UTSA has recognized that to keep up in this growing, evolving industry, students need to be passionate about construction and skilled enough to briskly adapt.
Bonnie Lee ’23 is a prime example of the aptitude and determination that Webber values. Lee, a New Braunfels native, joined Webber, a Ferrovial company, earlier this year as a field engineer for bridge, transit and other heavy civil projects after participating in the company’s internship program.
“I’m excited that I found my place, and I’m excited to see where I go. My opportunities are endless and I think my future is very bright. That makes me really happy because I’ve been wanting that for a long time,” admits Lee, who earned her first college degree in marketing from Texas Tech University in 2013.
After what Lee describes as an aimless handful of years, she felt a renewed push to go back to school and earn another degree on a completely different career track. She enrolled at UTSA with plans to follow in her father’s footsteps by pursuing a degree in civil engineering before pivoting to the construction science and management major, which she felt would be a better fit for her interests. She was also excited — if not a bit intimidated — by the fact that she would have to complete an internship as part of her engineering studies at UTSA.
“When I got my first degree, we didn’t have to do an internship,” Lee says. “Now, after my time at UTSA, I don’t see why any college wouldn’t have you do an internship because I think it’s extremely helpful. It’s kind of like a little gateway to the professional world.”
Lee landed an internship with Webber, learning the very skills that she’s applying on the job today. She was assigned to a road construction project on I-35 near San Marcos where Webber crews were rebuilding bridges, removing and replacing concrete paving and making improvements to frontage roads and drainage.
At the end of the internship, Lee was among a group of 75 interns that paid a visit to Webber’s corporate office in Houston to give presentations about their experiences to Webber president and CEO José Carlos Esteban and other senior managers. After the presentations, she approached Mitch Beckman, the chief human resources officer, to introduce herself. He was already very familiar with her work.
She recounts that he shook her hand and said, “Well, how would you feel about working for us?” Then she responded, “I would love to!” to which he replied, “Well, I’ve heard great things about you, and you’re going to have an offer letter in your mail in two weeks.”
Lee couldn’t help but feel flattered and touched. “At that moment, I thought that even if other companies wanted me to go work for them, Webber really appreciated me and what I did,” she says. “I felt like I belonged here.”
Being a field engineer for Webber has come with challenges ranging from thorny to complex, but Lee has proven to be quite adept at tackling them all.
“Bonnie has done an excellent job of facing challenges head-on. Even if it’s something brand new that she’s never dealt with,” Golubovskiy says. “One thing that’s really important in this field is there is so much to learn all the time. You must have the personal drive to go out and try to find the answer yourself before coming to your manager and peers. Bonnie is really good at doing that.”
“That’s a part of what we learned at UTSA is to problem-solve,” Lee adds. “Every day there is a challenge, and you have to figure it out, whether that’s by yourself or with your teammates. We’re all really good at helping each other.”
