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Construction is still male dominated despite a slight rise in the number of females working in the sector. What needs to change to make the industry more attractive to women?
Published on 22 May, 2025
Author: Markel UK
Women in Construction: Breaking Barriers
Women already employed in construction say increasing female representation in the industry can be achieved if action is taken to counter sexist stereotypes, raise awareness of the range of roles in the sector, and introduce new working practices.
The latest information from the UK’s Office for National Statistics shows that in Q4 2024, the proportion of women in the construction industry was just 15.2% (1) – a figure that’s actually up on the Q1 2024 level of 13.6%, but still short of a 15.8% peak between April and June 2023 (2).
Efforts to encourage women into the industry have been given fresh impetus by a predicted shortage of people with the right skills to meet the nation’s construction needs. According to the Home Builders Federation, the UK does not have enough construction workers to build the 1.5 million homes the Government has promised by 2029 (3).
Brian Berry, chief executive officer of the Federation of Master Builders, says greater diversity in the construction workforce is a “key component” in tackling this skills gap challenge: “Right now, the sector tends to be very white male-dominated, particularly ‘on the tools’ – that’s trades like carpenters, electricians, plumbers and so on.”
He says the industry is responding and points to initiatives like those from the Construction Leadership Council and the Construction Inclusion Coalition to improve equity, diversity and inclusion in the sector, but accepts more can be done to help women enter the industry.
A Trailblazer for Women in Construction
Hattie Hassan, MBE, founded Stopcocks Women Plumbers in 1990 because, despite her qualifications and skills, she was unable to get a job as a plumber. She says: “Women have made fantastic inroads in business and corporations, and we have all benefited from that. The building trade however is probably one of the last few remaining bastions of male domination.”
Finding training aimed at women is not easy and then women can also struggle, like Hassan herself, to secure jobs in the industry. “That’s ironic really, given how many customers tell us at Stopcocks that they’d love to have a woman plumber working in their home.”
Simple practical issues that also hinder women from getting a foothold in the industry include difficulty getting steel toe-capped work boots and gloves in sizes small enough for many women, and there’s even often a lack of adequate toilet facilities for women in the workplace and on building sites.
"Our industry isn't just about mud and boots - it's about creativity and innovation"
Construction’s Not Just Mud and Boots
Elli Kiely, design and innovation director at HJK Construction, is a mentor with the I Am a Housebuilder campaign, a national initiative to break down barriers for women in the construction sector. “As a young girl, I never saw women represented. Not on supplier brochures, not on site, not wearing hard hats or high-vis gear. There wasn’t a single image or example that showed me this was a path I could take, and this is one of the biggest barriers in my opinion.”
Just as off-putting for many women, she adds, are misunderstandings about what construction work actually involves. “It’s not all about heavy lifting or being out in the cold all day; there are diverse roles requiring creativity, problem-solving, communication, and technical skills.
“Our industry isn't just about mud and boots – it’s about creativity and innovation. It can be a career in surveying, design, architecture or IT, and we need to celebrate that fact more.”Another woman thriving in construction is Olivia Riley, who works as a site manager for housebuilder Chestnut Homes: “As the only female on site, I’ve lost count of the number of times people have asked me who the site manager is, having preconceptions that it wouldn’t be me. It brings me great joy to tell them I am the site manager, as it puts their unconscious bias into question. The more women we see in construction, the more we break the stigma.”
"The more women we see in construction, the more we break the stigma"
Breaking Down Stereotypes
She believes education is important to help break down such stereotypes and to encourage women to explore the avenues available to them within construction: “Start by giving children at school the chance to look at the possibilities available within the industry, possibly from as early as primary school. I also think there needs to be more apprenticeships available in the industry and solely aimed at women.”
Kiely, Riley and Berry are all agreed that working practices in construction need to change to suit the different needs of women. Kiely says: “Flexible work arrangements, especially for those balancing family life, can make a huge difference.” Berry adds: “We’ve seen the introduction of more flexible working in the office environment and there’s no reason why some aspects of that couldn’t be adopted within construction – it’s just a question of managing the workforce in a different way.”
Finally, Kiely makes the case that women who go into construction will find it’s a rewarding career: “For me, my family’s involvement in construction first sparked my interest. But I loved the idea of building something tangible, being part of projects that shape communities, and working in a fast-paced, ever-evolving environment. And that’s exactly what I’ve experienced working in the industry.”
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