Gender Equality in the Construction Industry
You can seldom, if never, see a woman working in the construction sites before. Because of cultural perception in the society that women is in the inferior side of the community and construction requires manual labor, it is unacceptable for the industry to employ women, even in today’s generation that gender equality is being practiced.
In some sectors of construction, women are being given a chance, not in the operations but in the administrative work. Axis Capital Group, a company which sells and rents capital equipment based in Singapore has female employees doing office works. In its branch in
Jakarta, Indonesia, though, the employment of women is still under strict considerations, putting into interest the fact that Indonesia is one of the biggest Islam countries in the world where the rights of men are more defined than that of women.
In London, when one of the executive at the construction of Thames Tideway Tunnel announced to achieve gender parity in 2023, he was replied by disbelief and unvoiced complaints. It is understandable considering the fact that construction industry is distinctly known as “a man’s world”.
Unknown by many, there are already a lot of women in the construction workforce. In
India where there are thousands of graduates every year and a few job opportunities, both men and women alike are forced to try working in the construction field. There are currently 450 strong female workers registered to be construction operators and manual laborers. There are also factors that drive women to try manual labor and its complexities:
 Influence of socializers (such as parents and teachers).
 Knowledge of the industry (gained through careers advice, insight courses and friends and family in the industry).
 Subject ability