As the world came together on Wednesday 8th March to celebrate International Women’s Day, this week also marks the anniversary of Women in Construction Week. This week is not only important to raise awareness of the drastic gender split between males and females within this industry, but to also encourage more women to consider this as a career.
This annual week spotlights and celebrates the women who work in a predominantly male-dominated industry, with only 16% of the on-site workers being female and 87% limited to desk, design and secretarial roles. When you look at education and health-care services, that industry is represented by 75% of women.
It’s so important to have these awareness weeks to greater diversity specific industries, pushing for change. We are starting to see the number of women in construction grow, however, there is still a gender pay gap of women being paid 26% less than men.
It’s great to see progression being made, however, these awareness weeks reinforce we still have such a long way to go!