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 (particularly in maths and science) and practical skills.

• Perceived career rewards (such as salary, future prospects, employability); and,

• Social identity (for example, wanting to make a contribution to society).

Continuously, women are trying to prove their worth in society. In a review on some personal reasons that motivates women, stereotyping is one of the main driving forces. While many think that women cannot do manual labor, there are some women who enter this field to prove otherwise. There are, of course, an array of discourse against it and contradictions but women construction students and workers Factors impacting on career decisions included are able to demonstrate some resistance to cultural norms on an individual level (for example, taking pleasure in the challenge of working in a male dominated industry), but that this capacity is also limited by structural inequalities in society and the industry that suggest construction is not a suitable career for women.
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