A woman in a man’s world: Construction
Reading time: 8 Minutes
As a 28-year-old woman with a Hairdressing Diploma, I was thrown into the deep end in 2021 when my partner and I started taking over my father’s construction company. While spending some of my free time and holidays working on construction sites, I considered myself quite the “DIY Queen.” Still, I have no construction experience or Certificates/qualifications for what was expected of me. With no expectations for what lay ahead for my future, nothing could have prepared me for the hard work it took to get to the point I am today. Not to mention that I haven’t even gotten to learn half of the things I want to or should have, much less need to, but I am so damn proud of myself already…and then comes the everyday patronisation, prejudice, and condescension that goes along with being a woman in this industry.
A little backstory: I have always been my “father’s son,” in a sense, between my sister and myself, and have always been told from a young age that I was the perfect candidate to take over Dad's Construction company one day. After High School, I Au Paired in Holland because I had no idea what to do with my life. Being naturally technically adept, I’m also quite creative. After my gap year in Holland, I completed my Hairdressing Diploma and started working in a Salon from 2016 to 2020 until COVID hit. Not long after, I lost my job and started working from home during lockdown. After a while, I started my own business and opened my home-based salon; however in 2021 my partner lost his job, and we decided to partner up with my father.
Getting into Construction and staying there
In 2021 my Hairdressing business was doing very well, but scheduling clients in-between site visits, administration, and meetings was becoming very taxing. All the admin stuff was my job, physical site work was my partner's baby, and clients and material procurement was Dad's work. I came to the realisation that my contributions were actually too minimal for my liking. I also found having to explain who my Dad was to vendors quite tiring, yet it had to be done in order for us to continue receiving regular discounts. Many times, a few individual vendors would go on this tangent about what a great man he is, and they'd always come down with a case of amnesia with every follow-up purchase - where this entire exercise would then be repeated, time after time. The pinnacle came at our end-of-year function when I sat with this group of men - colleagues, partners, friends - and realised I didn't know most of the workers’ names. I remember leaving there feeling like I had no voice and still not much more of a clue as to what goes on in a construction company. So I decided to make some changes.
Expectation vs Reality
Starting in 2022, I made the decision to make a conscious effort in presenting myself to becoming a more prominent and invaluable part of this “team,” forcing myself to be heard in impromptu partnership meetings & actively mentioning the ones I had no awareness of. I pushed myself to be given more responsibility, and with that came the attention that my partners could instill more trust in me. Ultimately, it became strenuous because I had to do so much pushing - pushing to be seen, pushing to be heard, pushing to be trusted - that my Hairdressing business quickly became a side project. This saddened me as I built a portfolio of loyal and happy customers. My partner and I decided that my contributions were more needed in the construction business and that I should be doing hair part-time, over the weekends and at night. I appreciated our conversation; it made me feel like they needed me almost as much as I needed to feel needed.
Change within the business was quite fluid and came naturally to us. As mentioned earlier, I’m naturally quite technically adept - which I get from my Dad - so I quickly adapted to working on-site. I enjoy getting my hands dirty and working with the guys; I feel like it makes them work harder in turn, seeing their boss working hard and wanting to learn from them. And I have, I’ve truly learnt so much from my team and my partners, but I’ve also learnt that the most significant change needs to happen in society.
Vendors and gender expectations
Male vendors - although they give me special treatment and will always carry the “heavy stuff” to my car for me, treat me as a typical woman. They call me pet names like “sweetheart” or “love,” which comes across as incredibly condescending. It makes me feel like they don’t see me as an equal, like they only think of me as someone helping my Dad out, as opposed to someone running the business. Yet, shockingly I’m more disappointed with female vendors in this industry. All, and I literally mean every single one of the female vendors I have encountered, have been bitchy and cold towards me. They all have this chip on their shoulders, like they are so cool for working in this male-dominated industry. Still, they won’t support the women trying to make a change or growth within the actual construction sector. It saddens me significantly to have to say this, but female vendors kind of suck. Now when making purchases, I would rather make an effort to wait for a male vendor to help me and deal with a bit of harassment if it means I don’t have to deal with bitchy comments and icy stares.
Like most women in construction - I’m only assuming - I have this general fear of misspeaking or using the wrong term for something and sounding like a complete idiot, whether with a client, vendor, or my partners. Especially within this industry, there’s so much more pressure on us women to be consistently near perfect to avoid criticism or patronisation from those who are actually supposed to help us. Women often get criticised when we are, in most cases, more informed and intelligent than our male counterparts because we need to overcompensate to be taken seriously. Women live in a constant state of oscillation between overcompensation and self-deprivation; we overcompensate to fit into this mold but self-deprecate by hiding our true personalities, ideas, and our voices!
Client meetings and proving myself
When my dad and I visit clients, they have this tendency to talk through me. They hear me when I speak, but they don’t listen to me or consider my ideas. Sometimes it helps to have fresh ideas or a woman’s perspective on the creative side of things - this is especially true with rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Katrina, where the Board was comprised of majority males, failing to ask or hear the women advocating for the needs of children and older adults, resulting in hundreds of homes being built without kitchens!
Yet, clients still treat me like the tea girl whose sole purpose is taking notes and smiling. Women are adaptable, multifaceted creations, and we deserve to be treated with the corresponding respect. It’s also bothersome that my own crew treats me differently. I spend considerably more time on-site now, and getting my team to understand that I can do strenuous and laborious tasks on my own is proving to be a learning curve. I am capable of physical labor and not afraid of working hard; I am not a fragile little being. Although, don’t get me wrong - if I break a nail on site, you will hear me scream, but I'm a badass boss lady and a woman - I'm capable of many things!
Opportunities for Women
In South Africa, only 11% of the construction industry comprises women, as recorded by BizCommunity in 2022. But when you have determination and drive, you can achieve anything, just like Thandeka Nombanjinji-Nzama, who overcame terrible circumstances and rose to be an award-winning business owner. Thandeka grew up in Soweto, where she tragically lost her father, brother, and husband. However, she rose to the challenge with a fire burning in her soul and won the Fabulous "Woman Job Creation" Award in 2021. Thandeka advocates for women in construction and is a self-proclaimed catalyst for the inclusion of women in the sector.
Now specifically for women in South Africa working in the construction sector, we need more opportunity and support, which is why SAWIC was established. SAWIC stands for South African Women In Construction. Established in 1999, they work hand-in-hand with the NHBRC (National Home Builders Registration Council), BBCBE (Black Business Council in Built Environment) & CIDB (Construction Industry Development Board). They offer numerous types of memberships for many different types for women, businesses, and students looking to expand or who need help building their future while helping others build theirs. SAWIC has created and supported great opportunities for women in construction and continues encouraging women with annual grants and investing in their education.
Mansplaining - more like women shaming
According to the dictionary “mansplaining” is commonly defined as: “explaining something to a woman in a condescending and often inaccurate manner, typically to a woman already knowledgeable about the topic”. As with unconscious bias, men are typically unaware that they're participating in the act of mansplaining - even more so in male-dominated industries.
First of all, I'd like to clarify that I'm not knowledgeable in all areas of life. Still, when a man tries to “explain” literally anything to me unprovoked, I become instantly annoyed - no matter my level of knowledge.
In my mind, mansplaining has become a hot topic for debate between the sexes. I am unsure whether it's because men are ignorant and think they are doing nothing wrong, or maybe women are just being “overly sensitive” as men love to label us. I feel like men are infatuated with the idea of telling women what to do or how overly emotional/dramatic we are. Yet, I find they're infuriated and dumbfounded when the tables are turned.
According to an article by OnRec in 2020 on sexism in the construction industry, 72% of women have experienced gender discrimination, 41% have received inappropriate comments/behaviour from male colleagues, and 45% of women who have been victims of sexual harassment said it had made an impact on their careers. Two in every 5 women (41%) in construction say they have received inappropriate advances from male colleagues, which is a terrifying jump from the 28% of women in 2018. It is a frightening trend increase in just two years, and even more horrifying to think where we must stand - especially as women in South Africa.
With all that said, women need to stand together, work together and conquer together! We need to have one another’s backs and create more opportunities for ourselves and others like us, both now and for future generations. This industry needs the brilliance of more women - come join us!
References
Criado-Perez, C., 2020, Invisible Women Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men. p. 291-293.
Gentle, S. 09 Mar 2020. We need to brick up sexism say women in construction. Onrec.
Peters, S., 03 Aug 2022, #WomensMonth: ‘Gender-inclusive workforce makes good business sense’ - Morag Evans, Databuild. BizCommunity.
SAWIC. nd. South African Women in Construction Constitution.
Starling, S. 07 Jan 2022, Mbokodo: Putting women first in South African construction. The Africa Forum.
