Construction industry needs increased participation of women workforce

Currently, there is a workforce of over 3.5 million people in the construction industry consisting of cement, steel, paint, ceramic, and wooden materials. Women are less involved in such industries. There is a dearth of women entrepreneurs working in this field. Even now in most organisations, the number of female employees is much lower than male employees. The conservative mindset of the society along with other barriers prevent women from participating in this industry. A very important target for us should be to increase the proportion of women in the workforce of such industries.
There are a number of reasons as to why women are less involved in the construction sector compared to men. There is an ingrained notion in our society that industries such as these are for men only, this leads to the belief that women are incapable of doing such work. There are numerous instances where it can be seen that female employees are not paid to the same as their male counterparts.
A lot of people also think that working in the construction industry leads to outdoor activities which might be risky for women. While it is true in some cases, the situation has improved a lot recently. Women's empowerment and safety in the society is a subject that is constantly focused on. I would also like to add that organisations need to ensure a safe and secure environment for women. As construction sites are usually quite far way, organisations in the industry need to arrange proper transportation facilities for their female employees.
Another issue of concern is that sometimes it is observed that some men resent having women employees in senior positions in the organisation. Sometimes a male employee cannot accept having a woman as his superior in the company, this creates a barrier for the female employee to move to the top executive levels. Even though we as a society are trying to move out of this mindset, we still have a lot of scope for improvement.
Because of such deep-rooted notions, there is a comparative lack of women in top management positions of organisations in the construction sector. However, the situation is improving, society is much more conscious about women's empowerment, and it is very evident now that participation of women is continuously increasing in interior design and architecture-related entities.
In Berger Paints, we always encourage participation from women in important roles of the company. Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited firmly believes in gender equality for which, the management is focusing more on recruiting females to maintain gender balance and have more female representation in leadership positions. The company has a diverse workforce and a welcoming environment towards people of all ethnicity, race, gender and belief.
Another promising matter is that we are now getting to see a significant number of women entrepreneurs. This increase in women entrepreneurship will inevitably lead to an increased participation of women in the construction industry.

(Rupali Chowdhury is managing director of Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited. She can be reached at [email protected])