After Kent State alumna Morgan Dawson, BS ‘20, started her career in the construction field, she realized that women in the industry did not have the appropriate clothing for the job.
If Dawson wore jeans, they were too tight. If she wore boy's construction pants, they didn’t fit her body. Something had to be done.
Dawson took it upon herself to create Dawson Workwear, a line of pants made specifically for women in construction. The line of classic work pants launched in July 2022, and she is already planning to launch a fire-resistant line of pants next month.
Dawson’s work pants have been very well received by women in the construction field.
It’s been amazing,” Dawson said. “Everyone is like ‘Wow this is so needed.’ Everyone loves the design and loves the fit. I designed them off pants that I wear every day that I knew were comfortable and I knew would fit right for the female body.” 
The pants are made of 100% cotton and come in the shades of olive and taupe. They have deep back pockets, double stitching at the knees and heels to prevent wear and tear and utility pockets to hold tools. They are manufactured in Los Angeles.
The company also sells a Dawson Workwear patch hat with the company logo on it.
To create the construction pants, Dawson enlisted help from friends in Kent State’s fashion design program. She did research to determine what fabrics would be best and hired a project manager in Los Angeles to help with manufacturing.
“I started finalizing the design and picked out fabrics and colors,” she said. “There is so much that goes into creating a pair of pants that you don’t think about.”
Dawson grew up in Columbus, where she tagged along to construction sites with her father, who is a mason. She graduated from Granville High School in 2016.
When she arrived at Kent State, she did not declare a major until the end of her first year, after having spoken with friends and faculty from Kent State’s construction management program.
Dawson, who was a member of Delta Gamma sorority at Kent State from her freshman to senior years, had an amazing experience at the university. The professors go above and beyond to make sure students are well educated and connect with potential employers, she said.
After graduating, Dawson worked for a construction firm in Washington, D.C., where she had interned her junior year. Earlier this year she moved to Birmingham, Alabama, to work for Orchestra Partners, a planning and redevelopment firm, as a development associate.
Dawson is among the 11% of women who work in the construction industry as of March 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is a small segment of the industry; however, it is inspiring to see more women considering construction as a career, she said. 
“For women in the construction industry, I know it’s intimidating at first, but it’s a rewarding field,” Dawson said. “I talked to some of the women in the construction management program now and it is so inspiring to see that girls realize that they can do this job and that it doesn’t have to be a male-dominated industry. I tell them to take a leap of faith and believe you can do it.”
For more information about Kent State’s construction management program, go to https://www.kent.edu/caed/construction-management.
For more information about Dawson Workwear, go to https://dawsonworkwearforher.com/products/classic-women-s-work-pant?variant=43255252451551.