International Women’s Day: Breaking the Bias

Listening to various interviews, along with my own experiences, has made me look back and reflect. I’ve reflected back on when I was younger and just starting out, and how, as a woman, working within a male-dominated industry made it harder for me to find my feet. I’m sure this year on International Women’s Day, and most days, many women within our industry will be feeling the same. But if we all work together, we can Break the Bias and make a difference.

Growing Ambition

In a recent episode of The Diary of a CEO, Steven Barlett interviewed television presenter Fearne Cotton about building confidence. The two discussed the difference between genders in terms of success, ambition, and how certain people were much more comfortable with speaking about things like goals, targets, finances, and their ambitions. Cotton described how being a woman makes it harder to talk about certain things in a certain way. Ambition is one of those things as, for men, it’s historically been more acceptable for them to discuss and celebrate these things in life.

It’s often a misconception in our own industry that women aren’t interested in construction, and don’t have the same ambitions men do to achieve success. But these misconceptions are declining as more and more women are choosing our industry. Women now make up 14% of professionals in construction, and 37% of new entrants into the UK construction industry from higher education are women.

While these stats are encouraging and are set to rise, there is still work to be done when it comes to changing attitudes about women in our industry and other male-dominated industries.

Changing Perceptions

Another interesting guest on Barlett’s podcast was Fran Millar, CEO of UK fashion brand Belstaff (former CEO of Team INEOS). Millar has had an impressive career creating and running several businesses. But one topic that came up in their chat was about “being a difficult woman”. She discussed how women are judged very differently for behaviours that are seen as completely normal in men.

Looking back on my own career, this is definitely something I have come across. While I have learned a balance over the years, at times my behaviour was seen to some as aggressive or rude. But would the same behaviour and attitude be looked at differently if it was from a man instead of a woman? Would it, perhaps, be seen as ambitious or powerful?

As I’ve continued to grow in my career and transitioned into management, I’ve tried to base my management style on what my younger self would have wanted, rather than what some might deem as just being a “difficult woman.”

Breaking the Bias

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is that collectively, we can all Break the Bias. In our industry and many others, this is certainly a call to action we can take on board.

Of the UK’s top 100 companies, only eight are headed by women. The number of UK businesses owned by women is at just 32.37% (though this is an impressive increase from 17% just four years ago). Just 5% of registered engineers and technicians are women (the UK has the lowest percentage of female engineering professionals in Europe).

This is only a small snapshot of the low numbers you can easily find that represent women in the workplace in the UK, and more specifically, women in our industry. This year for International Women’s Day, and every day, we’ll be helping to Break the Bias by calling out gendered actions or assumptions, challenging gender stereotypes, and celebrating women’s achievements.

How will you stand up for and support women?