AS the world marks International Women's Day today (Monday March 8) a leading developer Barratt Homes is encouraging more women to consider a career in the construction industry.

While female construction workers have increased steadily over the past 12 years, the proportion of women in the industry is still significantly lower, something housebuilder Barratt Homes is keen to change.

Research figures from the union for construction workers, GMB, showed that if the rate of female employees continues to rise at the rate it is now, women won’t equal men until 2194.

Hayley Chilton, from Kingswinford, a senior site manager at one of the housebuilder’s developments in Ledbury, dipped her toe into the housebuilding industry after graduating from the University of Lancaster in 2011 with a BSc in food, nutrition, and dietetics - inspired by growing up with a dad that worked in the construction industry.

She said: “It’s fantastic to see an increase in the number of women in either trade or management roles over the last five to ten years.

“I think it would be wrong of me to say it isn’t a male dominated industry, and there will probably always be a gender imbalance due to the nature of it. But that shouldn’t dissuade anyone from taking on the challenge.”

With a number of female employees already in a range of roles across the company, the housebuilder is reminding women from all skill sets of the different roles available and is encouraging them to put their experience to the industry.

Hayley continued: “I’ve always tried to promote the construction industry to women as much as possible, with school and college fairs, and my friends. The industry is so diverse that even if they didn’t want to be on site, there’s sales, marketing, and all of the departments in between, such as land, commercial, and technical.”

This year’s International Women’s Day comes with the theme #ChooseToChallenge, encouraging women to call out gender bias and inequality.

Regarding the industry, Hayley said: “I think the industry is still seen as ‘old school,’ and not up to date with modern times.

“However, the construction world is ever changing and the people that work within it have to adapt and change too. That’s one reason I enjoy my job so much, the continuous challenge and everyday knowledge that’s gained.”

Adrian Evans, managing director at Barratt Homes West Midlands, said: “We want to quash the age old stereotype that the construction industry is a male dominated field as we have many women who work out on site as well as in office based roles.

“As a leading housebuilder we are fully aware that one of the largest issues surrounding diversity in construction is the number of female employees working within the sector and the current gender imbalance it faces.

“With a range of departments within the company, we want to remind women that there are a variety of different roles that can be offered within the business that have great benefits and excellent opportunities for career progression.

“The construction industry is continuing to grow and this is an exciting time for people with an interest in housebuilding to join a market leading company. As the country’s largest developer, we are absolutely committed to developing raw talent and support our staff with training.”

According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the growing housing and infrastructure workload requires the UK to attract 400,000 more recruits a year to meet current industry needs, which equates to one recruit every 77 seconds.