Jen Nedeau raises this timely and critical question at Change.org (via IGHIH).  She quotes a Dec. 2008 op-ed by Linda Hirshman in the New York Times:

The bulk of the stimulus program will provide jobs for men, because building projects generate jobs in construction, where women make up only 9 percent of the work force.

It turns out that green jobs are almost entirely male as well, especially in the alternative energy area. A broad study by the United States Conference of Mayors found that half the projected new jobs in any green area are in engineering, a field that is only 12 percent female, or in the heavily male professions of law and consulting; the rest are in such traditional male areas as manufacturing, agriculture and forestry. And like companies that build roads, alternative energy firms also employ construction workers and engineers.

I run an internship program that places City University of New York students with companies, governmental agencies, and nonprofits that are working to improve the energy performance of NYC buildings, and I’m always on the look-out for excellent women candidates. The ones we’ve found are mostly MBA candidates who work on research projects rather than hands-on assignments (the engineering, construction management, and architecture technology students are male by a wide margin).

The sectors of the grey economy that stand the most to gain from a sustainable revolution are the very ones where the gender gap is most pronounced.  My organization convenes meetings of stakeholders from across the sustainable building sector, and they are, if you’ll excuse the phrase, a sausage fest.  Same goes for similar events I regularly attend around the city.

But women make up about 30-40% of the group — and they hold some of the most important positions in the big-player governmental agencies and private companies (one case in point is the relatively new “Sustainability Director” title, now common at major property management firms, which seems to be predominately filled by smart women who strike a balance between environmental altruism and the pursuit of profits.)  Women will play a big role in shaping this new economy — I hope they play a role in building it, as well.