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I bumped into an old school friend last week and we got talking about what we are doing, where we are working etc… So I explained that I work for a main contractor and am currently working in London, to which he exclaimed, ‘but you don't work on the actual building site, right? I mean, you can't actually walk around with the hard hat on and all that?'

But I have not found this kind of comment unusual. The most common question I get asked is ‘what's it like being a woman on site?' In fact, in my first article with QS News the fact that I am a woman on site was honed in upon with a very embarrassing reference to wolf whistling (you can all guess what happened next on site!).

I can understand it is an obvious question to ask in a male dominated industry, but until my attention is drawn to it I don't consider myself to be in an ‘unusual' situation. There is of course the stereotypical scenario of women on building sites, but in reality it's not like that at all. Donning the very fetching hard hat, oversized hi-vis and striking rigger boots doesn't make me a ‘target' for comments!

There are some ways that I am treated differently to my male colleagues. For example, some people are consciously more politely mannered when I am there, but I'm not going to complain about that! On the first site I worked on one of the subcontractors later admitted that at first I was a bit of an ‘unknown quantity' to him. He assumed I'd either be a ‘girlie girl' or a real mean lady, but soon found out there is an in between!

I think it is fair to say that the old stereotype does put some women off entering the industry, especially graduates. Some of the full time women on my university course have said that when they finish the course they will definitely look to work for consultants, because they can't stand the idea of working on site. Of course, at the end of the day it all comes down to the individual, but I think it is a shame that a site based career can be ruled out due to out dated stereotypes.

Although there are numerous organisations and initiatives aimed at promoting construction as an attractive career option for women, I don't think these are publicised enough, for example at universities. In my experience many people have got into the industry through contacts or family members, otherwise a job in the construction industry isn't an obvious choice. I am sure that if my father hadn't introduced me to the industry then I wouldn't be sat here now…