What’s stopping us from having a better gender balance in the construction industry?

在我在建筑行业工作期间，我参加了几个旨在帮助学校改善其职业规划的计划，特别是与STEM有关的计划。2022年北京世界杯我做过演讲，用意大利面条做过建筑，在研讨会上和学生们交谈，还帮助过模拟大学面试。

虽然其中一些活动是针对女学生的，但我一直在努力确保情况并非总是如此。

I had particularly terrible careers advice at school. A career in engineering was never suggested to me, but I attended a girls’ school and as a result the idea that I might not do something because I was a girl had never even occurred to me.

对于许多女孩来说显然不是这样的，在许多以科学为基础的职业中，我们试图鼓励女孩进入这个领域，同时告诉她们，她们开始的职业将是少数。

Imagine being a 15-year-old girl (easier for some of us than others) and someone trying to persuade you to start a career that will be dominated by men. It is a hugely daunting prospect. If I had not been quite so ignorant of that as a teenager, I don’t think I would have wanted to do it either.

The industry seems to be particularly bad at dealing with flexible working arrangements, which often impacts women more than it does men

有一次，我在一所男校的职业活动上发言，收到了几个朋友的评论——“你不认为你应该努力帮助女生学习工程学吗?”、“难道你不认为从事建筑行业的人已经足够多了吗?”

也许他们是对的。但是，在我看来，如果一个男生受到一个女生的启发，那么当他开始在那个行业工作时，也许他对周围女性的看法会有所不同。对于男孩来说，看到女性扮演这样的角色和女孩一样重要。

I intentionally titled this piece “What’s stopping us from having a better gender balance?” rather than “What’s stopping us from getting more women into the construction industry?” because this is not an issue for women, it’s an issue for everyone.

In architecture and engineering the number of women entering the workplace is increasing, but we need to find ways to keep women in the construction industry – and allow them to progress so that the industry is more balanced at every level.

这个行业似乎特别不善于处理灵活的工作安排，这通常对女性的影响大于男性。虽然疫情在一定程度上改善了情况，但人们仍然期望每个人都能随时待命，并能立即处理查询。

I don’t want them to be the only woman in a meeting with 12 men, or to have to fight for their opinions to be considered

In my career, every line manager and almost every mentor I have had has been a man. And those men have been great – they have taught me a lot.

But they don’t have quite the same appreciation of what the industry is like as they would if they were not men. It is really difficult to tell a man that you don’t think your opinion is being considered because of your gender.

Yes, this is another article where a woman has written about gender balance in the construction industry and – honestly – I wasn’t sure whether it was something I wanted to write about. I was worried that it would only be read by women and I know I am not saying anything that has not been said before.

但是，当我看到我们的女毕业生开始她们在工程领域的职业生涯时，我不禁感到有些防备。我不想让她们在12个男人的会议上成为唯一的女性，或者为了得到他们的意见而斗争。

I want them to feel supported and to be able to work their way to the top of companies if that is what they want to do. Things are starting to change, but there is a long way to go, and the 15-year-old girl inside me still finds that fact a little overwhelming.