Ponce It's very difficult. By making sure I have a routine, my kids have their obligations at home and my boyfriend helps me out. That is how I've been able to balance it. My priorities now are my immediate family and my business.

Leite Everything spills over, and you can end up thinking about work 24/7. To maintain a balance, it's important to set a schedule and have time for something you value. I'm a rower in the Austin Rowing Club. To me, it's important to have a time to practice with my team. It maintains my physical health and my mental health.

Crawford Now that my kids are off to college and beyond, I work a lot and enjoy it immensely. When the kids were young, I was fortunate to be married to an engineer who shared equally in child rearing. As a general rule, I am where I am, which means that when I was home with the kids, I was 100% with them, and when I was at work, I was 100% at work.

Do women in the construction industry lack self-confidence?

Arpino-Shaffer You have to have self-confidence in this industry. If anything, this industry can knock you down a bit.

Spain I think women in general lack self-confidence. Being in a construction atmosphere is not an easy thing for any woman. We have to keep one step ahead and be very adamant about researching and studying what we are doing. But this is typical in any job, not just construction.

Kudzia You can't be mousy out here. I've seen vulnerability in women when they come on site. Men can see it right away—like vultures—and they'll close in on you. Women have to be stronger in this atmosphere.

Vacca Whether a man or a woman, I think one of the keys to success is self-confidence. Allow yourself to make mistakes and climb back on the horse, even if you are going backward. Laugh at yourself.

Crawford The young women and men entering the field today see each other more as equals. The idea of typecasting based on sex seems foreign to them.

Leite I've read research that when women make a statement, many end it with a question mark, and that shows a lack of confidence. It's as if they are trying to affirm that they are right. Why are they in doubt? One summer, my father enrolled me in tennis camp in the level above my normal level. I came home upset because I thought I wasn't good enough for that group. He answered, "It's better to be part of a group that's above your level because, this way, you will improve, you'll learn."