NEWS EXTRA
WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP: CHANGING THE CULTURE OF CONSTRUCTION
Changing the culture of construction will take more than just encouraging more women into the industry. That was the message from Women Leading in Building Materials, a panel of four female leaders at the BMF Members Day Conference.
CHANGING THE CULTURE of construction will take more than simply encouraging more women into the industry. It will require earlier intervention, stronger allyship, greater flexibility and a willingness to challenge the systems and assumptions that have shaped the sector for generations. That was the message from a panel of four female leaders at the BMF Members Day Conference, titled Women Leading in Building Materials, where the discussion turned to what needs to change to create a more inclusive industry. The panel comprised: Jen Cassidy, CEO, Bristan Group, Emma Champion, group marketing manager, Independent Builders Merchant Group, Helene Bradley, communications director, STARK Building Materials UK, and Alice Maughan, owner & creative director, Stronghold Homes Cassidy said she believes that collaboration is central to the process of developing a more diverse workforce. She pointed to the work of the Construction Inclusion Coalition, which brings people from different industries together to share ideas and identify where construction can improve. The CIC operates a mentoring scheme, something Cassidy said is working extremely well, and which now has 45 pairs of people, giving them the opportunity to speak to someone outside their own organisation.
“We need more members,” she said. “The more of us there are, the more impact we can have and we do need to make that change.” She also stressed that increasing female representation isn’t just a female responsibility. “The role of allyship is so important. 50% of people can’t change this industry. But 85% of people can help to
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while pointing to the growing number of women working across traditionally male-dominated roles, including driving and branch management.
change it,” she said.
For Bradley, the conversation needs to begin much earlier than the workplace, in schools. She recalled being the only girl in her woodwork class, surrounded by 22 boys, and being encouraged towards traditionally female career choices. “I was told, ‘Go be a secretary,’” she said. “I’m like, no, I don’t want to be a secretary.” She explained that her experience underlines the importance of exposing young people to the huge variety of opportunities available in construction, and of challenging assumptions about which careers are suitable for men and women. “We shut people down. We don’t open up the opportunity,” she said. “How often are we talking about the possibilities with our school children, and actually opening up their eyes to what this industry is about?”
Maughan, who runs a house developer, talked about the difference that visible role models and supportive colleagues can make. She highlighted the “I am a house builder” campaign launched by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for SME housebuilders. and the way seeing other women working in the industry can encourage others to follow. She also said there can be a huge positive impact of having
women around her in similar positions. “The growth that I have experienced from being around other women who are doing the same thing in the same position as me has helped myself grow,” she said.
The panel also considered the pressures women can place on themselves as they progress. Cassidy pointed to imposter syndrome and a tendency that many women have to believe they have to be able to do everything before taking the next career step. “We set the bar so high for ourselves,” she said. For Bradley, the answer is partly about changing the culture around performance and failure. She argued that people can feel they are constantly being tested to prove they are good enough or productive enough.
“We’re always running at 150 miles an hour,” she said, arguing for a culture that gives people greater permission to succeed rather than focusing on the fear of failure.
She also cautioned against treating diversity as a box-ticking exercise. The goal, she said, should be to “change the system” and make sure the right people are being given opportunities. That means looking at practical barriers too. Bradley highlighted flexible and part-time contracts,
Champion said that creating supportive networks is equally important. “Part of being our best selves is to keep on challenging ourselves to make sure we’re not being constrained and make sure we’re being the best of ourselves” she said. Groups such as the Young Merchants, which she is currently vice-chair of, provide opportunities for people to encourage one another, she said, while making clear that there is “more than enough space for women in this sector”.
One issue that Champion highlighted was a tendency for women to think that they need to be able to fulfil every aspect of a role or promotion before they could think about applying for it. “That’s not exclusive to women, of course, but we can sometimes set the bar too high for ourselves, because we’re used to thinking that we need to be seen to be more capable than male candidates, rightly or wrongly. From my personal experience, can sometimes feel as though when an industry is trying to change its gender mix, the bar is raised so, so high for every woman that comes into that space. We need to give ourselves a break sometimes.”
The panel’s overall message was that the future workforce should be shaped by opportunity rather than assumptions which are probably outdated.
Bradley said: “The phrase ‘There are no jobs in that trade for women’ should no longer be an excuse. Women can be trained to take on emerging roles just as men can”. BMJ
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net October 2026
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