Women in the construction industry: Your experiences
by Natasha Christou Digital Marketing ConsultantThe construction industry has made
significant progress in terms of gender equality. The traditionally male dominated
field has made efforts to open its doors to a greater variety of people,
offering women the chance to engage in the dynamic and challenging environment.
Between 1996 and 2020, the percentage
of women in the construction industry has generally hovered between nine
and 10 per cent. This number is slowly on the rise, and even more
hope-inspiring is the fact that the percentage of female construction managers
grew from 5.9 per cent in 2003 to 7.7 per cent in 2018. Not only are more women
entering into the field, but they are entering at higher levels than they ever
have in the past. This sparks optimism for any young women wishing to pursue a
career in construction. For this piece, we spoke to some young women in this
field to find out what it was like to be a woman in the construction industry
and researched the opportunities that are out there for women in
construction.
Raising awareness
One reason for the increased number
of women embarking on a career in construction is the amount of initiatives
that have been introduced to minimise the gender gap in STEM (science,
technology, engineering, or maths) careers. It is now commonplace for female STEM
ambassadors to go into schools and deliver talks, aimed at engaging young girls
to consider STEM jobs.
One particular organisation, Women into Construction,
provides “bespoke support to women wishing to work in the construction
industry, and assist[s] contractors to recruit highly motivated, trained women,
helping to reduce skills gaps and create a more gender-equal work force.”
Thanks to organisations like this one, which aim to normalise the position of
women in the construction industry, more young girls than ever are feeling
inspired to pursue this career path.
What’s more, university-level
schemes and initiatives are in place to encourage women to choose this career
choice later in their educational life. One of the women we spoke to described
how she entered into an engineering degree at university via a scholarship, the
terms of which required her to do an internship each summer holiday. She
explained that, “this gave me the motivation to find a placement for the first
summer, which is the hardest one to get. Once I had my foot in the door, it was
much easier to find the next one, and the next one!”
Another female engineer, who completed her
training in Japan, explained the initiatives surrounding engineering and
construction that existed at her university and workplaces. “All large
companies in Japan” she told us, “are obligated to increase female managers by
the government”. Clearly, there are initiatives in place all over the world, which
set out to support young girls from primary school age, up to women on the
brink of their career.
What is day to day life like?
A day in the life of a woman in
construction or engineering can mean new challenges, problem solving
opportunities, and a dynamic team atmosphere. For women who have broken through
the glass ceiling of the construction industry however, the lack of other women
in their workplace can often feel disconcerting or intimidating. When speaking
to the Guardian,
one female engineer said: “My first day on site was tough. I do think it’s
getting easier for women but it’s intimidating because there aren’t a lot of
women who operate machinery; you don’t see them on site, people stare a lot. It
can be quite hard to take. It will get better. It is changing, but it is
tough.”
Inline with this thinking, one of
our contacts concurred, saying: “I think due to the nature of the work,
construction is always going to attract more men than women, but I also think
that the imbalance puts more women off. Once there is a critical mass of women
in the workplace, more would join and, critically, stay.”
Structural
engineering consultancy director Kate Watson also commented: “from holding
your own as the only woman in a room full of older men, to defying stereotypes
and practicalities such as never having personal protective equipment (PPE)
that fits, there are many hurdles faced by women in our industry”.
Clearly, adaptations have been
made and many women have entered the industry. But this is just the beginning,
and soon we will see a larger percentage of women heading into this sector. So
many seemingly small changes have been made to this industry that are having a
transformative effect on female employees’ daily life. Safety clothing for
example, has now been adapted to fit both men and women (rather than the
previous ‘one size fits all’ approach). Construction sites have seen an
increase in separate female toilets, and many construction firms are now
increasingly flexible regarding working hours, making it more feasible for both
women and men to work productively and fit working around family life. Despite
the current imbalance, we are seeing more and more women enter into STEM
industries every day. There is certainly reason enough for women, like men, to
be interested in this field. One of the women we spoke to cited watching
Formula 1 as a child as her inspiration to go into engineering, while another
told us that it was the problem solving element that most appealed to her: “What I like
most about the job is the constant problem solving, which is one of the key
things engineers have to do. There are so many little challenges to overcome
every day and sometimes some lateral thinking is required to figure out the
solution. It can be really interesting.”
Whatever their reason,
we must continue in our mission to diversify the world of construction and
engineering as this diversity is sure to lead to an exceptional workforce and
many exciting projects on the horizon.
Sponsor Ads
Created on Mar 27th 2020 08:30. Viewed 274 times.