Developing a More Diverse and Modern Construction Industry: The CITB Case Study

Construction is one of the most male-orientated industries in the UK. Only around 15% of the construction workforce are women. CITB expects 251,500 extra construction workers will be needed by 2028 to meet the expected levels of work, so a push to engage more women in the industry will lead to a more efficient and diverse workforce. Julia Stevens from the CITB recently attended our Women in Construction Conference. She called for a renewed effort to break down the barriers and drive inclusion in construction. This article explores her keynote, the challenges women often face and the changes companies can make to more effectively engage and retain women.

Julia Stevens is the Engagement Director for Wales at the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB). At the start of her session she remarked that she had a fairly limited knowledge of the construction industry before she joined CITB.

“I think if I’d been aware of the scale of opportunity within construction when I was leaving school, I would more than likely have made quite different career choices.” – Julia Stevens

She believes that there are a lot of misconceptions about the construction industry, making it challenging for it to appeal to women. Whether it’s the idea that construction is purely manual labour, or that it is not a safe or welcoming place for women, there are a lot of masculine traits attached to construction. These masculine traits make women feel like they are not welcome or needed in the industry, which is just not true. CITB is proud to push for a more inclusive and diverse industry, one which can be enriched and improved by more female representation.

Transforming Culture in Construction

Julia Stevens believes that the first step is transforming the culture of the industry. Challenging the norms and fostering inclusivity. In her experience, many women leave construction because of the culture. Being a male orientated industry, there needs to be a shift where the culture seeks to understand and meet the needs of people from all backgrounds. A lack of understanding when addressing women-specific issues, like pregnancy, menopause and menstruation make it difficult for women to be open about what they experience and how it impacts their work. If women don’t have access to inclusive spaces in the workplace, they won’t feel included.

The idea that construction work is all manual labour is incorrect. There are over 180 different job roles across the industry, including technical, machinery and leadership roles, meaning men or women who aren’t interested in manual labour can get involved. Indeed, if women want to get into the manual labour aspects of construction, it should be celebrated. Work sites have changed and in many cases the heavy lifting is done by machinery, so the labour isn’t as strength related as it might have been 40 years ago. CITB wants to shift those negative perceptions and make people understand that construction doesn’t necessarily mean manual work on a site. Moving away from that masculine ideal will allow the industry to be more appealing to people who aren’t interested in that sort of work.

An example of shifting perceptions is how CITB’s Welsh engagement team supports industry to host ‘Industry Insight’ days – dynamic, hands-on events designed exclusively for young women in early secondary school. This year, over 300 girls took part, exploring a wide range of roles across the construction sector and engaging directly with inspiring women working in real jobs at more than 30 leading construction companies. These events are consistently well received and play a vital role in showcasing the breadth of opportunity within construction. Not only to the next generation of talent, but also to the teachers and educators who help shape their career choices.

The Mentorship Case Study

During her session Julia Stevens shared a case study of a lady called Tony who received support through one of CITB’s onsite hubs. Tony completely turned her life around after joining the construction industry, and she accredits the support she received both from other female construction employees and also CITB’s hubs. The most important part of the case study was how supporting each other and creating those webs of support across the industry are paramount to engaging and retaining a female workforce. If people don’t feel included, due to the culture, or can’t connect because of a lack of support, they will feel alienated. This will deter them from trying to get work in that field. One of the key things CITB’s onsite experience hubs offer is a mentoring service, which is critical for women joining the industry, who might be anxious about the masculine-tilted culture that clouds construction work.

Mentorship can be a really strong way of getting more women into construction. Women in senior roles can inspire others to get into the industry, as evidence that there is room for career growth and success. However, women are underrepresented in senior and high-paying roles in the industry, and the gender pay gap in construction is larger than the UK average. This needs to be addressed and changed as it will be another deterrent for young, career driven women who have ambitions to operate at a senior level.

“We need to ask these women what helped them and what held them back. Good practices need to be identified, replicated, and made the norm. This will help create an environment where everyone can flourish and grow.” – Julia Stevens

There are many initiatives supporting this kind of work. For example, Construction for Women offers mentorship to hundreds of women entering the industry and CITB recently launched its mentoring standard, available for any levy-registered employer, to help build skills in supporting colleagues and developing careers. These initiatives are positive, and need to be fostered industry-wide to change the narrative and get support to young men and women who want mentoring into the construction industry.

In recent years, there has been growing recognition of the insufficient inclusion of women in leadership roles. Despite progress in gender equality policies and national EDI guidance, significant adjustments are still needed to support the career progression of women. Our upcoming Shaping the Future of Women in Leadership Conference 2026 will bring together industry experts and professionals to provide strategies for improving leadership pipelines.

Julia Stevens reminds us that it’s not all bad news. While the numbers remain small, the rise in women starting construction apprenticeships suggests we are making headway toward greater gender diversity. In 2018–19, just over 1,400 women started construction apprenticeships, but that number jumped to 2,420 in 2023/24 – nearly a two-thirds increase. It’s a great start, and highlights how there is definitely an interest in this. CITB celebrates this, but knows it is important that those women are retained in the industry and those apprenticeships are translated into long-term, secure job opportunities. Ensuring that there are clear and accessible pathways for all candidates who work hard to learn and progress will lead to a stronger, healthier industry.

Julia Stevens is proud of CITB’s £296 million investment into supporting the construction industry. A core pillar of this investment was focused on improving workforce diversity and equality. Making construction a more attractive career choice for future generations is a major priority for CITB and they have supported the development of flexible working within their partner companies. This development found that flexible working had no detrimental effect on budgets or deadlines and led to a happier workforce – especially for those with caring responsibilities. In recent years, work-life balance has become a much bigger priority to staff. Flexible working hours is a great way of increasing work-life balance and if arranged correctly, will see no decline in results.

Another initiative that will help support everyone in the construction industry is through comprehensive mental health support (including menopause support). CITB is working alongside the Lighthouse Club to offer courses on topics such as nutrition for productivity and tackling imposter syndrome – something that can especially impact women in construction. This training is crucial to ensure that leaders can support women and embed positive, flexible practices.

It seems that a lot of CITB’s efforts are in creating frameworks that can be used industry-wide. Whether it’s through training programmes tailored to construction needs, or through implementing flexible hours, these changes are paving the way for an industry that is more flexible, happier and more diverse.

Julia wraps up her session by highlighting how it has been a tough few years for the industry and wider economy, the outlook is improving. Home building and infrastructure delivery are set to increase, meaning there’s no better time to be joining the industry. This increase needs to be met with a boost in onboarding, and the workforce gap can only be bridged by attracting more people from diverse backgrounds and supporting their growth through training and development.

“Together, we need to grasp this opportunity to attract new entrants – especially women.” – Julia Stevens

We’d like to thank Julia Stevens for this incredibly interesting session. Throughout this case study, you could see the pride Julia feels for the work CITB does and the changes being made. It is truly inspiring to see the hard work being put in to transform the industry to be more accessible to all. You can find out more about our upcoming Women in Leadership Conference here.