Is the construction industry in need of reconstruction?

Traditionally, Irish womens' involvement in the construction industry has been in an administrative capacity in family-owned firms. They have frequently been the backbone of companies but their contribution has often been undervalued and overlooked.

This has not been an intentional oversight. It's more a reflection of the fact that the construction industry is dominated by men. While more women are taking up careers in the industry, they remain vastly outnumbered.

A training initiative by the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) set in motion under the EU's New Opportunities for Women (NOW) programme aims, if not to change this imbalance, at least to give women in the construction industry more of a voice. The CIF has always welcomed women to its events and meetings, but they remained poorly represented.

"Women occupy key positions in their companies, particularly in the case of small to medium enterprises," says CIF past president Mirette Corboy. "Traditionally, however, women as members of the CIF have not asserted their role as full members and rarely attend branch or regional meetings."

Over the past two years, 26 women have participated in the CIF's initiative. They were drawn from around the country and the majority work as directors or managers of family-owned companies.

"We knew there were a lot of women working away in the background and we set about identifying them," says CIF project manager Lynda Bradshaw-Dunn. "We used the project to assess their training needs and to identify what sort of skills they felt they needed to do their jobs better.

"We set up three regional groups and each group came together and worked out a programme of training focused on key areas. These were identified as business systems, health and safety, language learning, new technology and personal development."

The programme was very professional and very structured, says Jackie Fitzpatrick a director of her family's mirror manufacturing and glazing company, AC Taylor. "I think we all got far more out of it than we had imagined at the outset. I had always intended to get some training for myself in various areas, but something comes up and you put it on the long finger. The CIF programme seemed like a good opportunity to put my intentions into practice.".

Fitzpatrick has been running the accounts and administrative side of the business for 12 years. She identified training in computers and time management as areas she would find particularly useful. "I felt I needed to have more knowledge about IT," she says. "With a young family at home, I have to juggle my time. I felt that training on how to manage my time better would be a big help."

One of the great advantages of the programme, according to Fitzpatrick, was meeting other women with the same needs. "This had never occurred me to before. I just worked away on my own. I think the CIF deserves a lot of credit for taking this initiative. It's been really valuable in helping me identify my strengths and weaknesses and helping me to do something about them. I'm sorry it's over, but our group was so inspired by the experience that we're determined to carry on on our own and to continue meeting."

Patsy Supple, financial controller of Cork-based civil engineering and building company John F Supple, shares these feelings. "I decided to take part not really knowing what to expect," she says. "But any worries I had about this being some kind of feminist backlash against a male-dominated industry were quickly laid to rest. The idea was to bring women working in similar positions together and to let them talk about their work and their needs for skill improvement and training."

Women are often very isolated in the construction industry, says Supple. "You're in the office, not on site and you're away from the part of the business where you meet other people. I didn't feel isolated before I started the programme, but I soon realised along with a lot the other participants that I was and that there is a huge value in having a network of people to talk to or to bounce issues or problems off in an informal way."

Margaret Crehan is financial controller of Inchagoill Contractors, Salthill, Galway. "There were a number of us on the programme who had gone from behind the kitchen sink to behind the desk to work in the family business," she recalled. "To this extent we had learnt on the job and never had much opportunity for specific training or to meet other women in similar roles.

"The programme was extremely valuable in a number of ways and our whole group felt the same. Some people travelled long distances to our meetings, but I don't think anyone missed any meetings over the time we were doing it."

Crehan found the programme "a great boost to my confidence. It taught me how to delegate - something I had not been good at before. I found specific aspects of the programme, such as the health and safety training, both interesting and practical and my ability to speak in public, to express my point of view and to feel comfortable about myself and my job were really improved.

"The programme wasn't about women power, it was about self-development and helping to raise women's profile in the industry. In fairness to the CIF's director general, Liam Kelleher, he has always encouraged women to go to their local meetings and to make their contribution. The programme was an important way of encouraging women to come forward. It has been fantastic."