Spotlight on women in construction

With such a bright spotlight on women in business right now, let alone construction, it’s hard to escape the political and economic hullaballoo surrounding the issue.  The reality is, there are women out there forging dynamic careers in the industry who are on site right now pushing the boundaries in a traditionally male environment (just 13% of workers in the construction industry are female). PSR’s Ruth Whitehouse, bumped into one such trailblazer whilst on a site visit to client Lovell, in Coventry. Gabriela Ivanova kindly agreed to answer some of Ruth’s questions.

Gabriela is currently working as a Trainee Site Manager and has been with PSR client, Lovell, for over 4 years. Upon speaking with her on site, we wanted to understand what made Gabriela choose construction as a career. Gabriela explained that alongside her passion for the built environment, “it was the shortage of women in the industry and how I can change the perception of women in construction by making a positive impact within the industry” that provided the impetus for her chosen career direction.

PSR believes that a career in construction is a good choice for anyone, regardless of gender. With lots of plans in the pipeline as the UK gears towards Construction 2025, plus new technologies emerging every day, it is a truly exciting time for those within, and servicing the construction industry.

However, with the industry’s unbalanced male/ female ratio, we were interested to hear if Gabriela had encountered any challenges (or prejudices) along her journey so far.

“Yes, being female, men sometimes think they can do/know more. In one case, a project manager had to reinstate rules.”

This didn’t deter Gabriela from pursuing her career within construction though, as she enjoys the fact that her role is both “interesting and rewarding. The more respect you gain the better, and learning new things daily is my favourite thing about the job!”.

Finally, we asked Gabriela if she had any advice for women considering a career in construction…

“You have to be strong minded and believe in yourself”, she said. Solid words to live by for any working professional.

We’d like to thank Gabriela for her time in answering our questions and wish her all the best in her future endeavours.

Interested in issues facing women in construction and how they’re overcome on the ground? Follow Ruth’s group on LinkedIn for a central hub of news and discussion around this hot topic!

PSR’s award-winning construction permanent and temporary recruitment specialists are committed to helping each of our candidates find their dream job. Contact us in confidence, register or send us your CV and let’s get started.

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Watch more about working for Lovell here bit.ly/WorkingForLovell and follow #WorkingForLovell across social media.