Re-presenting women at construction events...

EcoBuild was big again this year and it continues to be an exciting source of information and place for the exchange of ideas for everyone in the construction industry. Unfortunately, despite the exhibition being populated by women in all capacities it seems some companies can't get it into their heads that there are women out there calling the shots, writing the specifications, advising their clients and placing the orders.  I do n't know about you but I like to look at bikinis in John Lewis - ok, I dream of a bikini, I look at tankinis and swimsuits but I don't really want to have another woman's waxing routine brought to mind when considering which solar panel to choose.  Pippa, one of our clan, thought the same...

Dear Jo

I went to EcoBuild on Wednesday and had a really interesting day attending two seminars and discussing the application of renewables for a couple of projects I am working on.

However there was one significant element that really disheartened me and I thought I would get in touch to see if anyone else shares my feelings.

Whilst milling around the various stands there were a number of companies that were using attractive young women to promote their products. Many of them were scantily clad, some in costumes - one in particular was a Barvarian maid serving beer so you can imagine there were plenty of men hanging around that stand. My heart absolutely sunk when passing Canadian Solar with two girls dressed as Canadian Police and a man behind me said "Ooo did you get ridden by a Mountie"...

Women have to fight so hard to gain respect within construction. Going to this event really highlighted just how hard that fight is and sadly how some men view our gender.

Aside from that I did have a very informative day and it was lovely to be in London on a fresh spring day.

I hope you are well.

Best wishes

What to wear?

One of the moments I really enjoyed at the last CWiC event was bonding with a fellow consultant on the "what to wear dilemma".  Let's face it, our male colleagues can (theoretically) get away with the same shirt and trousers all week (I know my husband tries to).  I, on the other hand, dither in front of my wardrobe trying to remember if I wore the same distinctive top to the last team meeting or how obvious it would be if I wear my new favourite skirt 2 days in a row.  Is that outfit too sexy?  Can I cycle in it?  Can I climb a ladder in it?  Will eveyone ask if I'm going for an interview?

I know the secret is discreet styles or uniform colours (ie. black) but I love clothes and it made me feel so much better finding someone else to share the craziness.

It's out there

As soon as you start thinking about it there's loads of food for thought for working women out there...

I will confess that I am a bit of a Radio 4 junkie and on Monday Woman's Hour had a forum on Women in Business.  They covered some really interesting topics including life/work balance, starting your own business and presenting yourself in business circles.  Dawn Gibbins, the founder of international flooring experts, Flowcrete was one of the speakers and had some great insights into working in the 'man's world' of construction.  She pointed out something which I learnt from my first boss - men like you to be direct, no fluffy stuff, talk in bullet points.  It's really good advice and I recommend a listen.
This is the link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b01d0ky8


Dawn's best comments were prompted by a question from Chrissi McCarthy who heads Constructing Equality in Liverpool.  They are a consultancy specialising in encouraging equality and diversity in the Construction industry - Yay!!  I've sent them the link to this blog and they are interested in articles from us for their newsletter so let me know if you would like to contribute.  Melanie and I are going to pull the information on "What's important for a Good Workplace" together with this and the AJ in mind.


Finally, a blog in ArchDaily by Christopher N Henry - "Women in Architecture - We need them" -  infact, after calling for more women in architecture he backtracks saying men can have all the qualities women have and there's really no need to make a point of hiring a woman over a man it's just that if architects started valuing "empathetic and sympathetic" skills there would magically be more women than there are now.  As a cheeky sixth-former said to me at a school disco - top marks for effort.  However, how do we start valuing empathy and sympathy more?  How do we see or measure these qualities?  What does he mean?... Do you have any ideas?

What next...

It's a challenge to think how to structure this forum so that as many women as possible feel they are getting something positive out of it.  We are a varied group both in terms of jobs and experience but also in terms of confidence and aspirations.
It seems to me that there is scope to do both formal and informal events and to vary the time of day/day of the week that these occur.  I've listed below the suggestions from last Saturday.  I intend to aim for another event in May and bi-monthly thereafter.  I have a few ideas for venues but if anyone has connections and can recommend a good place for 20-30 women to get together, have a chat, listen to a speaker and maybe have a glass of wine then do let me know.

Informal:

dinner parties

breakfast meet ups

more afternoon tea

drinks

visiting other offices

Formal - information gathering:

building tours

talks  - by inspirational women

          - on personal skills / presentation / speaking  / how to network

          - on industry specific specialisms - lighting 

Formal - participation:

debates

networking - presenting oneself in 60 seconds

                  - speed dating format

                  - formalised introductions / information exchange

discussions - topical issues

There was also a great suggestion for setting up mentoring which I intend to follow up and upping the female representation at other industry events which we'll have to work on.

Good cakes - good conversation - good company

The inaugural Cambridge Women in Construction afternoon tea was a great success and we celebrated International Women's Day with the start of something new.

There was a really good turn out with 30 women gathering to meet for the first time and share experiences.  There were architects, engineers, administrators, project managers, planning consultants and interior designers as well as students, researchers and academics.  We talked in groups and one to one about who we were, where we worked, why we were here.  I spoke a bit about my inspiration for the event - in particular as a way of connecting the women I - too infrequently - work with and we gathered ideas on what's important for women in the workplace, networking ideas and what we might like to do for another event.

There was a genuinely friendly and relaxed atmosphere, everyone had something to contribute and I hope people felt they got something back in return.  I am compiling the ideas which came out of the conversations and 'what next' sheet to formulate a programme of future events as there was overwhelming support for doing something like this again.

I plan to use this blog for canvassing ideas and will be posting things up for your comments so bookmark this blog and watch this space!

in the beginning...