What made you choose the construction industry? 

In the beginning, it was just a family influenced choice. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to work with many talented colleagues and participated in some fascinating yet challenging projects. The rich and dynamic experience in the construction industry not only strengthens my professional skills and knowledge but also broadens my career outlook. To know that I played a small part in each project, helping them to progress by problem solving and making a meaningful contribution, is truly gratifying. And that’s the reason why I have chosen to stay in the industry.   

What are the particular challenges that women have to overcome in the industry? 

I don’t think there is any challenge in the industry that is unique to a specific gender. The challenges I see are more about opportunities to grow, learn and expand my limits. It is resilience, focus and hard work that helps us overcome the obstacles. I tend to think less of how women ought to act in construction industry but focus more on dealing with the problem in hand professionally. That’s why I believe facing challenges in this industry is something universal for all genders, both women and men face it in professional life and have to overcome it one way or another. Women can enter into and grow in this industry. Any obstacles that do appear can be managed whenever they arise. On the other hand, I do encourage women to be more confident and bold and to believe in what they can achieve. Most challenges are just ‘paper tigers’ when you believe in yourself. 

How do you think this sector will evolve in terms of the employment of women? What roles will they be required to take on given how the industry will evolve over the next few years? 

Traditional jobs such as Engineering, Procurement, Human Resources, Business Development, Legal and Finance remain very friendly to woman. Meanwhile, we can also see top-down initiatives implemented to attract, recruit and retain female workforce in construction. In addition, builders have begun to embrace new technologies to improve the productivity and safety of construction. BIM, mobile devices and software applications have all been in use in the construction industry for various purposes for a number of years, which also offer brand new opportunities for women to consider and explore. Overall, I believe the prospect of employment for women in construction has improved and become more broad and dynamic. On top of a greater female representation in the workplace, I am confident there will be more women leaders emerging in the coming years pioneering change in the construction industry.