In a time where equality for women and women’s rights are at an all time high, we thought it was about time that we explored the role of women in the construction industry. It’s no secret that women are underrepresented in the construction industry around the world as well as in Australia, but why is that?

Why are there less women in construction?

Let’s start with there is no evidence to suggest that women are not suitable to work in construction. So long as a woman has a reasonable level of fitness and strength there should be no reason whatsoever that she can’t carry out the same level of work as her male counterparts. But here are some reasons why women may be underrepresented:

• The perception that women can’t meet the physical demands of a job in construction.
• Lack of information available for females interested in pursuing a career in construction.
• Gender discrimination in that women in construction are viewed to not be able to perform the role to the same standard as a man.

Reasons why women should consider working in construction

For those women out there that are looking to break the mould and explore a career in the construction industry there are many reasons why they should consider it. A lot of these reasons are also the same reasons that their male counterparts decide to embark on a career in the construction industry. Let’s explore a few of these:

• Getting satisfaction from building something hands on and being able to take credit for the hard work.
• Working in a stimulating environment as part of a team. Also have the opportunity to work in a variety of different work environments.
• Excellent career progression opportunities as well as personal progression.
• Construction workers (especially in Australia) often make more money than university graduates.
• Skills are transferrable all over the world.

Why are women needed in the construction industry in Australia?

Traditionally a male dominated industry, construction has many reasons why they should consider broadening the workforce to include more women. As we have mentioned above there are many reasons why there may be less women working in construction, but there are just as many reasons why they should be. Here’s some of the reasons why we think they should be:

• The construction industry in Australia is growing rapidly every year with high demand for skilled construction workers across lots of different trades. With such a high demand for workers and an insufficient pool to recruit from, introducing new potential workers to the industry can do nothing but benefit it.
• As companies are looking to increase the diversity of their workforce, introducing more women working in construction is a great way to demonstrate your workforce’s diversity. Creating employment opportunities for women is a win all round.
• Women have different traits to the traditional male, for example women are great at multi-tasking and have effective communication skills. It’s these different skills that can help women in the workforce to help build strong relationships with customers and colleagues alike.

At BriX Projects labour hire we do see women in construction; in Australia there are a large number of women employed in the construction industry in traffic control roles. But outside of traffic control jobs women are scarce. We would love to see the gates open for women in construction; we support equal rights and diversity and think more women would be a fantastic move in the right direction for the construction industry. As a labour hire agency we are in constant demand for highly skilled workers, so whether they are a man or a woman we are happy so long as they can provide an excellent service to our highly valued clients.