This International Women’s Day we celebrate the 1% with the aim to #BreakTheBias

As a female run business in the construction industry All Done Design is backing International Women’s Day 2022. We want to break the #BreakTheBias and ensure that our sector is one that women feel welcome in and one in which they can thrive. We truly believe the construction industry will be so much richer for this.

According to Women into Construction “women represent around 11 percent of the workforce in the construction sector, and as little as one percent of the manual trades. There appears to be little concern in large parts of the industry about this low level of female employment, and only modest attempts to remedy it.”[1]

It is a stark representation of the sector that I am passionate about. It is also why, when I sat down to write this piece, I decided to make it a celebration of the one percent. I believe that the women working ‘on the tools’ are phenomenal, inspirational and some of the best assets that our industry has.

These women are the trailblazers, boundary pushers and the ones that are not only helping our industry tackle the skills shortage but making construction accessible to girls up and down the country. If any one thing can make women see the potential of working in construction, it is seeing other women successfully do it.

The building site has in the past been a male domain. But seeing women succeed in this environment will challenge the outdated stereotype that girls don’t belong.

As an industry we must be realistic, and the issue of gender equality is not just a social one. For construction, it has the ability to tackle one of the sectors most pressing issues – the skills shortage.

The skills shortage is a crisis that has dogged the sector for years and with the ageing workforce, it is something that is becoming more and more crucial that we resolve. For me, an obvious way to tackle this issue is to bring more women into the sector. After all, what benefit can be derived from excluding half of the UK workforce?

However, attracting women into skilled manual jobs isn’t just about resolving the skills shortage. It is about getting more women into roles throughout the sector as a whole. These trailblazing individuals are building a wealth of knowledge that could see them become the next leaders of our industry. The joy of construction as a sector is the range of roles it offers, the possibility for career development is endless.

Not only this, but if girls can see women thriving as plumbers, carpenters and electricians they might consider other stereotypically male roles such as project and contract managers and engineers with a view to progressing to senior leadership roles.

As someone who adores working in construction and knows only too well what an incredible sector it is to be a part of, I would encourage women and girls not to discount construction when choosing a career.

And finally, to the one percent, thank you. Thank you for helping to break down barriers, thank you for helping our sector overcome its challenges. We can #BreakTheBias if everyone in the construction sector works together and ensure our industry thrives.

[1] https://www.women-into-construction.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/building-the-future-women-in-construction.pdf