I'm extremely proud to have been shortlisted as a #constructionrolemodel as part of UK Construction Week. It's an industry I love so to have the opportunity to promote it to the next generation of workers is a real privilege.
For too long construction was beset with a serious stigma. It was the workplace of choice for white lads and everyone else was frozen out. You'd have more chance of seeing the Loch Ness Monster riding a unicorn than seeing a black girl with a trowel in her hand finishing off some brickwork.
Thankfully, those days are long gone. As with many industries, construction is changing - and changing for the better. Construction is very much open to all.
It is just over 100 years ago that women in the UK won the right to vote, largely due to women starting to do what was traditionally seen as ‘men's work' during the First World War.
Fast forward a century and women are once again needed to help deal with another urgent skills shortage. With an aging workforce and fewer young people choosing construction, our industry remains in dire need of those with the appropriate skills.
Although still very much a male-dominated profession, it's increasingly common to find women working in all fields of construction, from plumbing and bricklaying to buying materials, running offices and submitting tenders.
According to a survey by Go Construct, 37 per cent of new employees choosing construction after university are women and approximately 14 per cent of all construction industry professionals are now female.
Gender equality in the UK has come a long way since Emily Davison ran into the path of the King's horse in the 1913 Epsom Derby; however, we've still got a long way to go.
At Northampton College, we have been working hard to encourage more women and more ethnic minorities into our construction programmes and we are now reaping the rewards.
Representation has increased significantly and we are seeing the positive difference it makes – not only on our courses but also the part it plays in helping close the gender gaps in local employers. Our young people are blazing their own trail, and they are taking the industry with them on an exciting journey into the 21st century and beyond.
Of course, there is far more to construction than simply working on-site. We are a digitally-enabled industry which should be attracting the best and brightest. We are not solely for carpenters, electricians and plumbers. We need data scientists, we need coders, we need marketeers. The skill set of the modern construction industry employee is far wider than ever before.
It is an industry where opportunity is abundant if you are willing to look for it and work hard to achieve it.
You can get involved with ground-breaking projects, you can develop and implement new technology and you can make a long-lasting difference to the way people live their lives, day in, day out.
By working together, with a rich and diverse workforce, we can climb to new heights. A new generation of role models, from all backgrounds, can inspire the leaders, visionaries and pioneers of tomorrow. We can create true equality and make gender pay gaps a thing of the dim and distant past.
Let's commit to picking up that sledgehammer, breaking down those barriers and smashing those stereotypes. We can do better.
