In 2017 Women in Construction made up approximately 13% of the overall work force and whilst we don’t yet know the exact percentage to date, it feels safe to say that number may not have changed drastically yet. However, with groups such as ‘Women in Property’ and the ‘Women in Construction Summit’ we are seeing more and more positive changes. As a company CMS is proud to say it has a 50/50 split in the workplace. We asked Harriette Beazer, an assistant Quantity Surveyor to tell us about her experience and journey of working within the Construction Industry.
“I am a woman working in construction. A concept that until as recently as the turn of the 20th Century was generally unheard of, and I would go as far as to say, frowned upon. Big machines and men in high-vis jackets is a very outdated image, yet it remains to be the common perception of the construction industry. Though coming from a woman currently employed in the industry, I know it couldn’t be further from the truth.
Working in what is still very much a male dominated industry, has provided me with more career opportunities than I could ever have imagined when I first started working at CMS, over 4 years ago. Over the time I’ve spent with CMS, I have always been reminded by my colleagues, that women are valuable employees in the construction industry. We have the intelligence, mettle, resolve and work ethic that the industry needs.
I do find that at times it can still be a very backwards industry, do I like it? Absolutely not. Does it make me more determined to prove a small minority wrong? Absolutely.
For me, working as a Quantity Surveyor in an industry that is so used to the presence of men around the meeting room table is invigorating. However the difficulties I face on a day to day basis are resigned to the work that is expected of me, and that is exactly the same for my male counterparts.
During World War II, Rosie the Riveter represented the fierce women working in the trades. Today that same spirit is reinvigorating the construction industry as women are becoming the new faces beneath the industry’s hardhats, and I for one feel very proud to be one of them.”
If you would like to become part of the CMS team, please take at look at our vacancies page.