Rounding off the UK’s Women in Construction Week, International Women’s Day is a celebration of women across the world.
Notorious for being a male dominated industry, only 15% of the construction workforce is female, and only 1% are in manual roles. With a skills shortage of 250,000 workers, more needs to be done to attract and support women in construction.
Here at TSL we are proud to exceed the national average, so today we’re shining a light on some of our amazing female colleagues, recognising the immense value they bring to our business and to our industry. We caught up with Caterina, Poppy and Anna to share insights into the careers of women in the construction industry, and what International Women’s Day means to them.
Meet Caterina Pala, Senior Design Manager. Caterina joined the business in 2024 into our in-house project design team.
“Diversity fosters innovation, better problem-solving, and a more inclusive work.”
What made you choose your career path?
I’ve always been passionate about architecture and how construction shapes the world around us.
What advice would you give to females wanting to enter the construction industry?
To believe in your abilities, be confident in your knowledge, and never hesitate to voice your ideas.
How do you see TSL benefiting from diversity, in an industry that is known for being a male-dominated industry?
Diversity fosters innovation, better problem-solving, and a more inclusive work. By embracing diversity, TSL can continue to strengthen its collaborative culture and industry leadership.
Who inspires you?
I am inspired by strong, resilient women who have broken barriers in their respective fields.
This year’s International Women’s Day theme is ‘Accelerate Action – what does that mean to you?
To me, ‘Accelerate Action’ means taking tangible steps to support gender equality.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
It’s an opportunity to inspire and support the next generation of women entering male-dominated industries.
What key traits do you think great leaders possess?
Great leaders inspire and empower those around them.
What advice would you give to young girls as the future working generation?
Confidence, resilience, and continuous learning will help you navigate any career path you choose.
Meet Poppy Dugan, Quantity Surveyor. Poppy joined the business in the new year, becoming the sixth member of the commercial team managing our project costs.
“I had never heard of a QS before, so I liked the idea of doing something a bit different to the standard career choice for women.”
What made you choose your career path?
It kind of fell in my lap to be honest, my brother owns a construction company and at the time I was working within recruitment, unsure of what I really wanted to do for work but knew it wasn’t recruitment. My brother said that he needed a QS to come and work for him which to me sounded ideal and like a real career to me, as I struggled to see the longevity within recruitment.
I had never heard of a QS before, so I liked the idea of doing something a bit different to the standard career choice for women.
What advice would you give to females wanting to enter the construction industry?
Don’t be daunted by the fact that it is quite a heavily male dominated industry, be confident in your own self and what you have to say and don’t think people won’t take you seriously due to the fact of being a woman. Confidence is key!
How do you see TSL benefiting from diversity, in an industry that is known for being a male-dominated industry?
Diversity brings a lot of perspective and decision making, and without different perspective and opinions you cannot grow as a person or company. Personally, I want to work with great and knowledgeable people and encouraging diversity means you are allowing a wider pool of knowledge around you.
Who inspires you?
I know it sounds typical, but my parents inspire me a lot, from as young as I can remember my parents were never shy of work and always worked hard so that they could provide my brother and I with the best opportunities. In turn this has made my brother and I very hardworking. I hope one day when I have children that I can give to them what my parents have given to me.
This year’s International Women’s Day theme is ‘Accelerate Action – what does that mean to you?
Be proactive and welcome change! Be comfortable in the uncomfortable as this means a change and progress is happening! Instead of avoiding challenges that come with change, we should learn lean into them, for example encouraging each other to apply leadership roles and advocating for ourselves.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
To me this is the community and support you feel around you from your fellow colleagues, it is a reminder change in fact does happen when we all work towards a collective goal.
What key traits do you think great leaders possess?
A vision but also adaptability, leading people is a hard thing to do. You are dealing with emotions, different working styles and personalities as well as the job itself; someone who is adaptable who can easily communicate with others but at the same time motivate people to work hard and get the tasks in hand complete is a great leader.
What advice would you give to young girls as the future working generation?
Have confidence, due to the industry being male dominated you need to have confidence in how you present yourself and what you are saying this will definitely get you far and even if you don’t feel confident in that moment “fake it till you make it”. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t know the answer, its always better to ask a question than sit in misery trying to guess or figure it out.
Meet Anna Beck, Brand Manager. Anna joined the business in November 2024 to devise and deliver our brand growth strategy.
“The biggest difficulty I have seen… is the attack that we are taking men’s jobs; that one more woman in construction equals one less man.”
Like many professional marketers, it’s not a career I had mapped out, but then how many of us actually do? After graduation I landed an admin job in a graphic design consultancy, where I then applied to do a post-grad Chartered Institute of Marketing course to help better understand our customers. After the design industry suffered a millennium crisis I jumped client side and have then built up my marketing career from there.
I grew up in a banter-fuelled butchers shop and have always worked in male dominated industries – heritage railways, pest control, plumbing supplies and now construction, so I already have that understanding of how male-led work places operate, but it also helps that marketing is more female led. I am quite happy to help forge that path that we’re not a different species, but at the same time we do have specific needs; we do need PPE that fits properly for example, or clean toilet facilities for good reason. Thankfully there does seem to be a positive shift happening with these physical adjustments in the construction industry, but only because other women have had to fight for them.
Again too, there has been a huge improvement over the decades in workplace behaviour, led perhaps but not just because of more women needing to have careers and climbing those ladders. It sems to have escaped the notice of government that we don’t necessarily work out of choice; it takes two salaries to own and run a home these days. DEI policies often play catchup, usually after individuals have struggled and suffered first. They are in place at least, but some forward thinking would be nice!
The biggest difficulty I have seen however, not personally but from others, is the attack that we are taking men’s jobs; that one more woman in construction equals one less man. Interestingly our ability to do the job isn’t in question, nor should it be, but funnily enough we don’t attack men taking on female-dominated industries in the same way. It’s an attitude that needs to be educated out, and I think it’s still the hardest thing for women entering construction to overcome. There are ‘women in trades’ and ‘women in construction’ groups out there, and for anyone struggling these are a great place to share experiences, find support and know that you are not alone.
To me International Women’s Day is still needed to highlight that although we have come a long way in 100 years in the UK, we still have work to do and around the world female equality is a long way from being achieved. To me, the biggest issue is that our education system is still based on the assumption mothers are home in the school holidays. That needs to be addressed and changed. For my parents generation house-wives were the norm, for my generation it was 50/50 but my peers all now have at least part-time jobs, but for my daughters generation 100% of women will need to work. The world still needs to wake up to that fact. I see us as leading the way, being the example for others to follow and we do need to accelerate that action.
