Women In Construction Are Increasing, Leadership Roles Needed

Women in the construction industry have become a widely accepted career option, making up 11.7% of the workforce, according to the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC).

The group, which has based their figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, is now pushing for women in construction to take leadership positions, so that they can be properly represented. At least 56% of the women believe that companies should be give women managerial or supervisorial roles in the organisational structure.

Janelle Kerrisk, a representative from the NAWIC said, “Now that we have more girls with a foot in the door and identifying that a construction career is an option for them, we need practices and policies in place to continue the momentum for the participation of women, to ensure those women stay long term in the industry and are within leadership positions.”

A 26-year old site engineer at AECOM, Felicity Briody, has been touted by the group as one of the most influential women in the industry. She has founded the Power of Engineering program, which helps push engineering to high schools.

She says, “”I hadn’t thought of myself as a woman of influence before and it’s strengthened my view that you don’t have to be super experienced to be a leader and have influence.”

“I didn’t think about women in leadership positions until I started thinking about the next step for my career.”

The construction industry is the third largest industry employer in Australia with over one million in the workforce. The rise of women as trade workers and technicians in the construction industry have had an impressive 20% improvement since 1996.