Posted 12 March 2020

Did you know women make up just 13% of the construction industry workforce? Leeds College of Building wants this to change.

To celebrate International Women’s Day 2020, we welcomed 27 girls on to campus to learn about construction and the different careers available, from trades to construction management. Mount St Mary’s, Leeds West Academy, Cathedral Academy, Bradford Academy, Airedale Academy and Carlton Bolling College brought Year 10 girls to the South Bank campus on Wednesday 4 March.

Students took part in workshops in Architecture, Civil Engineering and Transport Planning, Electrical, and Plumbing; wiring a plug to make light work, welding pipes to make water flow and designing their own house and urban village, the girls got stuck in to all kinds of activities.

LCB Student Ambassadors (pictured) were on hand in the Architecture workshop to talk about their course and show their portfolios of artwork. We also heard from three employers, RG Group, Balfour Beatty and Galliford Try, who talked about the range of opportunities available for women in this growing industry.

Girls were inspired and enthusiastic; there were definitely some budding Electricians and Architects in the group. The girls are now keen to get out on site and see construction in action – so that’s our next project!

Plenty of research is being done on why women remain underrepresented and around the industry’s skills shortage in general. We need more young people to take up positions to make sure our built environment keeps evolving.

Louise Allen, Leeds College of Building