What Does a Woman Know About Construction? More Than You Think!
Welcome to my first blog, today I went on a course delivered through the East Midlands Chamber and Funded by the UK government on “Blogging with Authority and Trust”, hadn’t got a clue what it meant but it sounded like something I needed to do!! So tonight I had to try and write this so that I hadn’t wasted a day of my life or a day of the presenter Paul Ince's life in which he spent most of it calming my over-enthusiastic brain down.
You see let me give you an insight into who I really am, I honestly think I have some sort of condition that’s remained undiagnosed, my brain works ridiculously fast, and I find myself with so many thoughts that all need to be acted on at the same time, it’s like balancing a million spinning plates but I like it, even if others say they can’t keep up with it!!!
Today I spent the whole day with my partner in crime, Operations Manager Steve Crossley, an unusual combination we are but for the last almost 11 years we’ve worked side by side, me creating chaos and Steve shaking his head in what’s she going to do next!!! But it works, we work!! I’m not saying it’s always been easy of course we have different ideas but throughout it all we share a deep passion and understanding of the Construction industry and always strive to pay this industry the respect it deserves. Steve never made me feel like a woman in construction, I was just accepted for me and the experience I brought to the team.
My place in construction started very early, both my grandads' were bricklayers, one went to work in a shirt and boiler suit and the other in a lorry with a hole in the floor that I could see the road pass by through, not sure it was my grandad's lorry or someone’s he knew, but it’s a vivid memory as I can remember thinking it’s like a Flintstones car.
My dad was a plumber… I was taken to work with him when I’d been naughty or cheeky, I’d like to say not often but well… you can fill in that gap. Can you imagine health and safety now allowing children to work, was I child labour? No, I loved it but I never admitted it or I might not have been taken!!
I went on to marry my childhood sweetheart, and guess what? Another construction worker… a sparky, there was no getting away from the likes of DeWalt drills, muddy steel toe caps and the smell of dust!! I often joke that I wanted to marry a man in a suit, and I married one in a boiler suit!!! He’s never had a boiler suit, only Snickers, which if you are in the trade, you will know they are workwear and not the chocolate bar!!
Lastly so far for our contribution to construction, one of my sons is a ground worker, we only need a joiner and a plasterer and I reckon we will be sorted!!
So, what place do women have in construction? I don’t know how I feel about this. I want the best person for the right role, and I don’t care who they are. Employment should be based on merit, not gender.
In a male-orientated workplace, you would think this to be an issue, I work with some of the most talented tutors of bricklaying, plastering, tiling and functional skills, they are mixed genders and each delivers a uniqueness in what they do. I don’t believe any of my colleagues consider women shouldn’t be in construction let alone managing a construction training provider.
My opening headline was “What Does a Woman Know About Construction? More Than You Think!” My answer is two parted what do we know - women know as much as they want to learn, and there are so many opportunities for construction workers, male and female, CITB states that there are over 250,000 extra construction workers required by 2028.
Do women know more than you think? - this is only right if a woman has taken the time to learn, research and understand what is required to work in construction.
I’m likely to finish my career in construction, so what do I know? I know a lot but I don’t know it all! I listen to my colleagues and their experience shines through, I learn something new every time I walk through our workshops and see the expert level of training they deliver!
I draw from what I’ve learned growing up, I learn from working with my hubby and helping him manage his own company, I’ve been through the recession which hit construction so bad, I’ve been through like all of you Covid, and saw how it affected construction and how slow it was to bounce back, I understand first hand what the worries are but from construction workers there thoughts and concerns. All sounds heavy?
I also know the highs of the job, the camaraderie, the money to be earned, and the joys of standing back to a job well done!!
I love the construction industry, it’s in my blood and while I continue to manage Chameleon I will seek to work with CITB and awarding bodies to keep our employers and employees informed about changes and ways to access anything they are eligible for.
Thanks for reading!
