Hundreds of people from across the construction industry gathered in Dunboyne Castle Hotel on Friday 6 March for a breakfast seminar hosted by the Construction Industry Federation (CIF).
The event was held to celebrate the achievements of the many women working in the construction sector both now and in the past.
Since 2017, the Construction Industry Federations #BuildingEquality campaign has sought to increase the visibility of women working in construction, so that those working in the industry could see a path to more senior positions and those not in the sector, may be inspired to consider a career in construction.
According to Central Statistics Office (CSO) statistics, women now make up 8.49% (Q4 2019) of the total workforce in the Construction Industry, rising from just 5.3% in Q4 of 2017.
5,400 women have joined the industry since the Q4 2017 seeing the number of females working in construction grow to 12,500.
CIF Director-General, Tom Parlon said: “Thankfully we are starting to see the numbers of women in the industry improve, but 8.49% is still far too low. A key part of our Building Equality campaign has been to increase the visibility of women in construction as role models to the next generation. Since 2017, we have been actively highlighting the fact that there are rewarding careers in construction for women from the building site to the boardroom.
“Over the past two weeks, the CIF’s Building Equality billboard campaign went live in a number of train stations around Dublin, in advance of International Women’s Day. These billboards celebrate the women currently building Ireland. They challenge the tired stereotypes around construction. The women featured in the campaign work across housing, contracting, LEED, carpentry, quantity surveying and engineering. It shows the diverse range of careers available to all in construction.”
