International Women’s Day celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. This year the theme is #eachforequal with the long term goal of creating a gender equal world. We spoke to one of our female trainee surveyors Lucy, about being a woman in the construction industry and what this years theme means to her. Lucy is in her final year at university and works within the quantity surveying department.
International Women’s Day is about celebrating our strength in unity. It is society’s responsibility to equal the playing field for men and women.
My name is Lucy, I am a 3rd year Quantity Surveying student and I have recently embarked on my construction career at Rooff. Equality is one of my highest priorities and more specifically the diversity of the construction industry workforce. For my dissertation topic I have decided to research women in construction and how we can encourage more women to consider a career in the perceived male dominated industry. This topic is important to me as I believe construction is still considered as a ‘Manly’ profession. I would love to change this misconception and give women the opportunity to thrive in a very rewarding career.
I was first attracted to the construction industry by the idea of having tangible results for your hard work. My knowledge of the construction industry prior to starting my degree, was limited, however, the past few years of study and my recent experience with Rooff has helped me gain more insight and exceeded my expectations as to what an interesting industry construction really is.
The #EachforEqual campaign highlights the importance of the need to fight for this collectively in order to eradicate gender inequality in the workplace, across all sectors. As a female in a male dominated industry, I would love to feel equal to my male counterparts over my whole career. There are still changes that need to be made as there is still a lack of representation for women in construction and I hope to help improve that through my own actions as a female ambassador in construction.
My experience at Rooff has been excellent, they are a very diverse and equal unit which really pays off when working collaboratively. At Rooff each and every team member has an equal and important role that contributes to the success of our work. This is such a positive and reassuring sign that the construction industry prioritises diversity and gender equality and reflects the progressive thinking that trade actually has.