Simian Supports Women in Construction

It is something that has been a subject of much discussion for many years, and one that the NASC President as well as many other professionals within the industry are looking to bring to the forefront of the industry conscious, the lack of women that choose to join the construction industry.

The issue of gender inequality has found particular prominence within the UK in the past 12 months due to the introduction of the Gender Pay Gap reporting, which saw any organisation that had over 250 employees being required to report and publish specific figures on their gender pay gap.

Women in Construction

When it comes to lack of female representation, the construction industry arguably has one of the largest imbalances between male and female workers. This is an issue that, although slowly improving, needs to be seriously addressed amongst industry professionals to gain insight into why there is such a significant lack of women joining the industry.

Research has shown that whilst there is nearly a 50:50 split between male and female workers in the UK in general, this figure drastically reduces when applied to the construction industry, with only 296,000 women working in the industry out of an astounding 2.3 million people overall (an 87:13 split).

We are very proud here at Simian to actively support equality within construction, and we are continually campaigning to encourage diversity in the scaffolding industry. The overall consensus within the Simian office is that gender should have no bearing as to what career a person chooses, and therefore we support the NASC President’s endeavours to improve upon this imbalance and drive more women into scaffolding.

We asked two of our most senior staff members, Jackie Thomason and Susan Russell their thoughts on equality in the construction industry and their time at Simian.

“I think some women are perhaps put off a career within the construction industry due to the perception that it is male-dominated, however I think this a common misconception. There are countless opportunities for women in our industry, and in my opinion, if you’re right for the job then you’re right for the job, gender should not come into it at all.”

• Jackie Thomason, Financial Director, Simian Risk

“There has been significant bias in the construction industry for so long and now more than ever we need to address the issue. In my time here at Simian, my first role within the construction industry, I have been given some fantastic opportunities to progress with formal qualifications, joining construction groups and getting to network with like-minded people.”

• Susan Russell, UK Operations Manager, Simian Risk

What are your thoughts on the imbalance of women in construction? How do you think we could diversity our great industry? Let us know on Twitter or Facebook.