Construction is one of the primary sectors in India and contributes majorly towards the country's GDP. The largely unstructured and unorganized sector also provides employment to large numbers of skilled & unskilled labour employing closely 35 million people. But women only form 30 percent of this number.
This comes as no surprise, though. Women and their representation in the workforce has been on the lower end of the spectrum with only marginal growth over the years. But what comes as a true shocker is that more than 65 percent of the women in the construction industry work as construction laborers, engaged in menial labour.
When it comes to managerial or leadership roles, the number of women drastically reduces. Roles such as architects, structural engineers, civil engineers, maintenance workers and others are predominantly held by men. A mere 1.4 percent of technical roles in the construction industry are held by women. The numbers dwindle further as we move up the ladder and look at the top leadership roles.
he construction industry has long been considered a field best suited for men. It is often said that working `on-site' is not conducive for women.
This bias also translates in the number of women enrolling in civil engineering courses. Research says that the male to female ratio for the course in India is about 4:1. Only a handful of the women who graduate as civil engineers actually go on to work in the field.
Right from social conditioning, gender bias prevalent in the industry and lack of adequate training & resources have long been causes for women staying away from the construction industry. With all odds stacked against them, there still are some prolific women carving a niche for themselves in the Indian construction industry.
Geetika Malik, Director, Landmark Buildwell is one of them. From an early age, Geetika loved to visit her father's construction sites. Her interest and passion towards building materials and construction compelled her to join her father's company Landmark Buildwell Pvt Ltd and gradually ascended to the Director's position.Ever since, she has been playing a pragmatic role in navigating the company to greater summits.
Aanchal Goyal, who functions as the GM - Finance and Administration, at Spar Geo Infra has had to fight an uphill battle to establish herself in the industry. "In the construction industry, there are not so many women working in finance. Starting from questioning my caliber based on my gender to hesitating to speak freely to me about specific finance-related matters, there are numerous challenges I have to face as a woman who has established herself as a successful leader in the finance vertical of a construction company, an area which envisages a few women professionals". Unperturbed she is leveraging her skillsets and expertise to lead the firm to greater summits.
Pallavi Krishna Paspuleti, CEO, Tripura Construction has an optimistic outlook on the matter. She says, "Now, particularly in the construction industry, women are doing just as much as their male counterparts are. We are visiting the sites, monitoring the work, talking to the landlords; the once popular belief is not there anymore, and people don't frown upon or mind talking to women".These women and their testimony tells a story of the winds of change that are blowing in the construction sector.
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