Historic Rise: Women's Representation in the Construction Workforce Surges to 15.8%
The proportion of women in the construction workforce has reached its highest point in recorded history, with a 15.8 percent representation, as reported by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This marks a significant increase of 1.2 percent compared to the previous quarter and a notable rise from the pre-pandemic level of 12.6 percent.
This surge in the relative presence of women can be attributed, in part, to a modest decline in the number of male construction workers over the past few years. In the last quarter, approximately 1.8 million men were employed in the construction sector, which is 200,000 fewer than in the first three months of 2020. In contrast, the number of women in construction has risen during this same period.
In the second quarter of 2023, around 340,000 women were recorded as active participants in the construction industry, representing a growth of 41,000 compared to the period just before the Covid-19 lockdown (January to March 2020).
The journey toward this milestone began when the ONS first began compiling data on the gender distribution within the construction industry in 1997. At that time, there were 242,000 women employees, constituting 12.8 percent of the total workforce.
Chithra Marsh, the chair of Women in Property, suggests several factors contributing to this shift. One factor is the aging population, resulting in senior men retiring from the industry, which has lowered the male workforce percentage and consequently increased the female presence. Additionally, more women are entering the construction field after completing their education, as evidenced by the growing number of construction trainees among Women in Property's National Student finalists.
Another potential factor is an improvement in retaining women at mid-career stages, driven by the industry's efforts to enhance flexibility and career progression opportunities.
While the ONS Annual Population Survey offers a slightly different perspective due to its smaller sample size, it estimates that in the year leading up to March 2023, only 11,800 out of 710,300 construction tradespeople were women. However, it is worth noting that women in construction seem more inclined to pursue project management roles, constituting 13.8 percent of such positions in the year leading up to March 2022, albeit slightly decreasing to 12.3 percent in the subsequent year, according to Annual Population Survey findings.
Interestingly, the scarcity of women in certain construction roles, such as carpenters, joiners, stonemasons, and groundworkers, is so pronounced that the ONS was unable to reliably estimate their numbers, despite these roles employing an estimated 197,000 individuals in the UK.
In summary, the construction industry has made remarkable progress in increasing the representation of women, reaching a historic high of 15.8 percent according to ONS figures. However, there is still work to be done to encourage greater gender diversity across all roles within the sector.
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