WITH International Women’s Day being celebrated last month, focus within the construction sector shifted back onto how we can encourage younger generations of females to explore careers within the industry.
The UK construction industry is still perceived as male dominated, with women making up around only 12.8 per cent of employees in the sector. GSSArchitecture are proud that 34 per cent of our workforce is female, working in various roles throughout the practice including architecture, quantity surveying, business administration, ICT and graphics design.
In February, it was reported that the highest ever number of women applied to study architecture and related subjects at university in 2019. Official data from admissions body UCAS showed 18,090 women had met January’s deadline for applications to full-time architecture, building and planning undergraduate degrees starting in September 2019. This was up five per cent from last year and a huge 38 per cent since 2013. Whilst these figures are encouraging and indicate that architecture and related careers are becoming more appealing to women, it is important that companies within the industry continue to promote the various roles and opportunities within the sector.
The issue for many women just beginning their careers may be that they feel it is harder for women to reach more senior positions, due to the lack of diversity in many firms’ leadership teams. This is why we at GSSArchitecture are proud that back in 2017; Anna McTaggart was appointed as the first female partner of the practice. Anna joined GSS back in 2012 and was made an associate of the practice three years later, finally progressing to partner just five years after joining.
As recognised Investors in People, GSS are continuing to offer educational and training opportunities to all staff. Currently, GSS are supporting five female members of staff that are undertaking year-out placements, studying part-time to become fully qualified or on apprenticeship schemes or work experience, working within architecture, architectural technology and business administration. This is all part of GSS’s commitment to support women in the industry, whilst helping to develop the skills of those just starting their careers, to ensure their future success.
If you are interested in pursuing a career in architecture or joining the forward-thinking team at GSSArchitecture please visit the careers page of our website to see current vacancies across all offices www.gssarchitecture.com/careers