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Women In Construction – Guest Blog
Guest Blog from Lauren Bayliss Fuller, Careers Advisor for the National Careers Service:In my job as a Careers Adviser it’s quite unusual to see women who want to forge a career in the construction industry. To be honest, when they do come along I get quite excited and a little bit proud – my back of the head voice bleats on…
‘Well, Dayle’s developed an amazing business and career in construction and now Jo’s on her way too. And they both love what they’re doing!’
So why aren’t more women working in this sector?’
The construction industry is one of the UK’s largest and most important sectors. It provides approximately a tenth of the country’s annual GDP, and is worth an estimated £1,5 billion. The construction sector employs some 1.4 million people. But just 9% are women.
It’s an interesting area and one that poses all kinds of questions about equality and attitudes. But the bit I am interested in is promoting the hidden careers and skills in this industry and exploring why women aren’t ‘naturally’ drawn to these careers. Its not all building sites, hi vis and a builders brew!! Although, having said that you can’t beat a good cup of tea – milk no sugar thanks.
I’m a ‘Googler’ if I have a question, I ask Google (yes I know there are people too but Google seems to answer everything!) so my first search term was naturally ‘Women in Construction’ and I am pleased to say there is a wealth of support and information out there (I’ll finish this blog with a handy list of websites you can explore).
So, my first search bought me 304,000,000 results and all in only 0.19 seconds – mind blowing! After lots of clicking, head nodding, disapproval, agreement, advertisements etc I started to discover that one problem seems to be the cliché that working in construction means working on a building site, but what about considering any of these careers…
- Architect
- Architectural technician or technologist
- Builders’ merchant
- Building control officer
- Building surveyor
- Carpenter or joiner
- Civil engineer
- Clerk of works
- Contracts Manager
- Electrician
- Estimator
- Facilities manager
- Gas service technician
- Land and property valuer and auctioneer
- Landscape scientist
- Painter and decorator
- Planning and development surveyor
- Project manager
- Quantity surveyor
- Structural engineer
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! And then it occurred to me that this isn’t just about these roles appealing to women it’s about these roles appealing to anyone looking for a dynamic and interesting career.
Sorry to generalise, but in my experience there is a ‘group’ of individuals drawn to construction work when leaving school or college – male, looking to use practical skills rather than ‘academic’ skills in the work place. However, there is a huge misconception that roles on site are purely manual – they’re not. Working on site often requires a CSCS card, so completing a Health and Safety test, which requires literacy skills…something that some individuals just don’t realise. And that’s just one tiny example.
I’ve gone a little off track, but that’s ok it means there’s more material for another blog. So, this entry is just the beginning of my exploration into the Constriction Labour Market and its strengths, weaknesses and areas for development.
I’ll finish up for now with a nice quote that’s worth considering…
“If 50% of the people using a building are female, why would you not include women in the design and build team?”
Next time, I’ll look into skills needed for the sector and explore ways to encourage people into construction.
For further information:
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/
www.nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk
