Women in Construction – the critical
solution to a skills shortage
The drive to encourage and retain women in construction
roles is a critical solution to the skills shortage and a
topic of enormous importance to the industry at large.
One only has to consider the 300,000 new
homes that are to be built each year, and
the need for more than a million extra
workers by 2020, to realise the enormity
of the challenges ahead. Figures suggest
that women are expected to make up
more than a quarter of that workforce by
2020, but more can and should be done,
with some experts believing the figure
will be more like half of the workforce.
Looking back to 1988, less than 7% of the
full-time construction industry workforce
in Britain were women. By 1995, the
Equal Opportunities Commission
stated in its annual publication that
women continue to be significantly
under-represented particularly in the
construction sector.
The situation is improving with wages
rising, albeit slowly, and the proportion of
women in senior roles has almost trebled
since 2005, providing some hope that
the misconceptions around construction
being a gender-specific industry are at last
being removed. But, a survey by Randstad
in 2018 discovered that out of 1,200
people that have experienced gender
discrimination (33%), 60% were women,
and more than eight in ten women feel
left out and excluded from male-oriented
conversations and social events. Not
only are these figures disturbing, but the
survey revealed 43% of organisations do
not actively monitor pay equality.
Encouragingly, there are parts of the
industry that have recognised the urgent
need to address these inequalities, and
we at London Build 2018 are a part of that
drive. We’ve been hosting our Women in
Construction Networking Event for two
years now, and are thrilled that through
the growing support from industry, we
are able to offer inspiring leaders the
platform to encourage and inspire the
younger generation and more women to
challenge the barriers to entry and aspire
to a more diverse workforce.
At last year’s event, we worked with
NAWIC, Built by Both, Women in
Property, the Federation of Master
Builders and many more key industry
figures, registering 1,150 female visitors
to the session. We aim to make this year’s
event to be even bigger and remain the
UK’s largest gathering of women working
in construction!
This year, we’ve partnered again with
NAWIC, and are delighted that Women
in BIM (WiB) and many other industry
leading bodies have come on board to
bring this free-to-attend event for all,
offering the chance for professional
individuals operating in this market to
network and feel inspired.
Not only will we have a great supply of
refreshments, but you’ll hear from a panel
of established female experts discussing
the untapped opportunities for women,
get any of your questions answered, and
to network.
However, we are taking our commitment
to shine a light on our women in
construction one step further this year
by creating our Women in Construction
Ambassador community.
We have an impressive list of Women
in Construction Ambassadors that have
agreed to help us to drive equality and
diversity in the built environment,
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but we’d like more to join. These
incredible ladies are already a part of our
community:
Cristina Riley, Senior Planner Kier Group
& Vice Chair Kier LGBT & Allies Network
Kathryn Lennon Johnson, Founder, Built
Environment Skills in Schools;
• Anne Timpany, CEO, On Tap Plumbers;
• Kirsten Galea, Senior Associate
Architect, West Williamson and
Partners;
• Nicola Coppen, Utilities Project
Manager and Chair – Kent & Medway
Construction Guild, Ebbsfleet Garden
City;
• Fiona Barry, Divisional Marketing
Manager Kingspan Insulated Panels,
Kingspan Ltd;
• Marta de Sousa, Property Expert, LUX
Reality;
• Fiona Alfred, Director, Women in
Property;
• Anna Vincent-Gill MRICS, Consultant,
Naismiths;
• Angela Steele, Owner, Opportunities
With Experience CIC (O-W-E);
• Ruth Whitehouse, Recruitment
Consultant Residential Team, PSR
Solutions;
• Christine Townley, Skills and diversity
champion;
• Marie Grieve, Director, Costello Palmer
Communications;
• Sarah Davis, Founder and CEO,
Skills4Stem Ltd.