Today is International Women’s Day, a global day to celebrate the achievements of women and raise awareness about women’s equality. In an interview with three employees at Somerford Equipment, we get an insight into their experiences working in what is currently a heavily male dominated industry. In 2021, it was reported by Go Construct that only 14% of the construction industry was made up by women.

In this interview we speak to Shirley Dowding, Robyn Munro and Claire Archer who are working in the administration team at Somerford Equipment, to see how their experience has been in the industry along with some tips they have learned throughout their careers.

Evolving communication

Shirley has been a pillar of the Somerford Equipment administration team, with over 25 years of experience. Her years of service have helped to give her a unique insight into the gradual improvement in the treatment of women in the construction industry “Before working with Somerford, I worked within the building industry, also male dominated, so I was both used to the challenges and prepared for them; however over 25 years things have definitely changed, mostly the attitudes of everyone as to what is acceptable to say.”

Meanwhile Robyn puts it down to company culture “We’re extremely fortunate to work in a company that has a culture of mutual respect between the office and the workshop, irrespective of gender.”

Tips for Success

With such a minority of women in the construction industry, getting into companies in the first place can prove to be the toughest hurdle. Shirley travelled all the way from Scotland to interview at Somerford “I moved to Cheshire from Scotland in 1996 and in preparation applied for a number of positions; the role with Somerford was the first I interviewed for and everything about it was appealing. I wanted challenging, interesting, multi-tasking, and busy, and that’s exactly what I got. Anyone who works with us will tell you the same – no two days are the same, and we never get bored!”

“Know your limits – the only ones you should have are those you set for yourself. Make them high ones!” is the advice Robyn gives for other women looking to start out in this sector. While Claire suggests that you should just be true to yourself, as you will always succeed with that attitude.


Generating awareness

The United Nations first started celebrating International Women’s Day back in 1975, but still in 2022 it’s a day which not everyone is aware of. Claire had no prior knowledge of the day ever existing “To be honest, until today. It’s not something I ever hear get mentioned or was ever taught about.”

Robyn who was familiar with the celebratory day for women stating, “I have grown up without many of the stereotypes that have affected women in the generations before me – International Women’s Day is a reminder to be grateful for the opportunities I have had – and that I will continue to have. It’s a reminder to continue the conversations about equality, and to keep fighting for equality both for women in the UK and for women in other countries/cultures who are less fortunate.”

Future steps for progress

Moving forward all three women agree that there’s plenty room for improvement in equality for women, in all walks of life. Shirley believes this is achieved through learning at an early age “Equality – by every conceivable definition – needs to begin at an early age; babies aren’t born to be biased for or against anyone else, it’s something they learn by the way they are spoken to and treated by others, and the way they see others being treated. Equality needs to be taught by parents, by grandparents and in schools. I look forward to the day that a class of primary school children asked to draw a nurse, an engineer, a firefighter, for example, don’t all draw the stereotypical genders.”

While Robyn mirrored this viewpoint “My three-year-old loves to help cook as much as to help with DIY; but I can almost guarantee that if you looked at the packaging for a toy workbench and for a toy kitchen, there would be a little boy wielding a hammer and a little girl wielding a whisk. We need to have more diversity in the representation of genders for children from the very beginning in all things.”