星空传媒

The Joint Initiatives Partners Project (JIVE Partners), a three-year national project aimed at promoting opportunities for women in the construction industry, is proposing a national mentoring programme for women in the sector.

A recent meeting outlined some of the difficulties and challenges women in construction face, and how mentoring can be used a tool to support them. These issues include gender stereotyping in careers advice, and unsupportive environments in education and training. The event was supported by several construction bodies, including the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Women in Property, RIBA and the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Lis Merrick, the national mentoring co-ordinator for JIVE Partners, says: "Mentoring techniques are successful whether you are mentoring to a schoolgirl who is interested in pursuing a career in construction or to a woman trying to break through the 'glass ceiling' in her field."

The mentoring scheme would be cross-disciplinary, as JIVE Partners believe this will make it more powerful than individual sectors within construction developing their own programmes. "Our vision is to create a national support network for women working and studying in this male dominated industry." The scheme will take the approach of using older men working in construction as mentors.

It was also decided that an approach to the CIC Equal Opportunities Task Force should be made on behalf of this initiative.