Out with the stereotypes

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By On Martes, julio 28 th, 2020 · no Comments · In

For hundreds of years, the construction industry has been largely male-dominated, but at last we can exclaim: Goodbye stereotypes!

Today, although statistics continue to shift the balance towards men (91% compared to 9% for women), we cannot ignore that little by little and with great difficulty, women have made their way into this sector, despite unfounded stereotypes in a still macho society. Women are just as capable of carrying out those tasks that, until very recently, were thought to be purely male.

It is curious, but also sad, that the obstacle they have had to face most often, the women who have dared to be part of the sector, has nothing to do with the hard working conditions, such as operating heavy machinery or climbing dizzying scaffolding, but with the contempt, the prejudices based on outdated stereotypes, and the mockery of their colleagues and bosses. They must prove their worth every day, and not make any mistakes.

– “The first time I entered a construction site, the masons whistled at me from scaffolding and windows. I often had to hear things like ‘a woman is not going to tell me how to do my job”- says an occupational hazard prevention technique- “A man can perfectly have a bad day, but a woman cannot afford that luxury and must constantly prove that she has earned the right to be there”.

The latest data show that there are around 150,000 women employed in construction in Spain, yet only 2,000 of them work as labourers. One fact is that only six women work in assembling and dismantling scaffolding in the United Kingdom, and in Spain that figure is unknown. Probably none.

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Many construction companies do not hire women, unless it is for administrative and accounting positions. There are also female site managers, engineers, architects or surveyors, but few of them are tiling.

-Hiring women makes costs very expensive,” says one company, “because you have to put in other changing rooms, other services, and they can also put a fox in the henhouse. There are no women in our construction sites”.

Is there still male chauvinism in this sector? Undoubtedly, but far from holding women back, every year more and more women decide to train in construction work.

In 2018, more than 5,500 spanish women attended the courses of the Construction Labour Foundation, and the vast majority are happy with this employment option.

They really enjoy laying bricks, using the backhoe, making concrete, or building partitions.

– “They are more detail-oriented and very capable of doing the fine work. They work very hard,” says the site surveyor. “Not only are they no different from the men, but they are more formal and responsible. I know few male workers who can keep up with them.

But if there’s one building trade where women have become established, and more and more of them are studying, it’s architecture. In 2019, there were more than twenty thousand women architects, and this trend is on the rise.

Throughout history there have been women who have broken the stereotypes imposed in their respective times, and did their utmost in the construction field. Let’s look at some examples:

  1. Lady Anne Clifford (1590-1676) devoted most of her life to recovering her family’s land, which her own father decided to leave to his male descendants, rather than to her. Once recovered, she designed and worked on the reconstruction of buildings abandoned or damaged during the English Civil War. She also built buildings to serve them (mills, warehouses, churches, nursing homes, and road and bridge infrastructure). She also directed the funeral monuments for his family and friends.
  2. Lady Elizabeth Wilbraham (1632-1705), was a member of the English aristocracy, traditionally identified as one of the first known architects. In addition to a dozen family residences and a large number of churches, some 400 buildings are attributed to her. Since in the 17th century it was impossible for a woman to pursue a profession, it is claimed that Wilbraham would have employed male architects as performers to supervise construction in her place.
  3. Sarah Guppy contributed to the design of Britain’s infrastructure, and in 1811 she patented the first of her inventions, a method of making safe piles for bridges. Although, she gave the design away for free because she believed that women should not be “too conceited”.
  4. In 1898, Ethel Charles became the first woman to enter the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Unable to obtain commissions for large-scale projects, which were reserved exclusively for men, Ethel Charles was forced to work on modest housing projects such as worker’s housing. She often worked alongside her sister, the second woman to become a member of RIBA in 1900. Charles publicly stated that the best opportunities for women architects were commercial commissions, but the only reference to her work in large-scale design is the award-winning Church in Germany in 1905. That same year she was awarded the RIBA Silver Medal.
  5. In 1906, Alice Perry was the first woman to graduate in engineering worldwide.
  6. Elisabeth Scott, an English architect who won the 1928 international competition for the construction of the new Shakespeare Memorial Theatre. She was the only woman in a competition of more than 70 architects and the first woman to design a public building in England.
  7. Waterloo Bridge is also known as “Ladies’ Bridge”, as it was rebuilt by some 350 women during the Second World War.
  8. Born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1950, London architect Zaha Hadid won the 2004 Pritzker Architecture Prize – the first woman to receive the highest honour in architecture!

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