WIC Week provides an occasion to raise awareness of the opportunities available for women in the construction industry and to emphasize the growing role of women in the industry.
We are proud to support the week and share some stories from our construction team’s female colleagues.
Us at Six Town are challenging gender inequality by encouraging new and existing female talent to join and remain in the sector and by boosting one another through our career successes.
Kelly Watson works as a Customer Liaison Officer at Six Town, says:
“I think it’s important to highlight women’s roles within construction as I don’t think people realise how many different roles there are that aren’t necessarily out on site on the tools. There are lots of female Site Managers, Quantity Surveyors, Administrators and Tenant Support staff that are all leading roles within construction.”
We are actively promoting work opportunities in the trades to females involved in our Steps to Success Programme as well as with work experience placements, Apprenticeship programmes and the Kickstart scheme.
We are members of Women in Social Housing (WISH), Inclusive Employers and the GM Good Employment Charter to support us to attract, retain and develop an inclusive and diverse workforce where employees feel valued, respected and empowered.
The gender gap is improving
In 2020, our Executive and Senior Management Team was composed of 67% female and 33% male but in more traditional trade roles such as labourers the figure is 26% female.
We are happy to say that this is still higher than the average in the UK. The construction industry employs over 2 million people in the UK and, only 13% of these employees are women.
Carmel Hitchen who works as a Site Manager at Six Town and has over 20 years’ experience in the construction industry, encourages women to apply for roles:
“It is important for women to know that there is a place for them in construction. It has changed a lot over the years as women use to have to prove themselves and work twice as hard to be accepted. Today women are engineers, architects etc even electricians and plumbers. There are a lot of opportunities for women in construction and I would say to anyone interested in a role in construction, go for it!”
We will be sharing quotes and stories from our amazing team of female colleagues who currently work in diverse roles in our construction teams this week. Keep an eye out on our socials and share them. #WICWEEK2022
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