Women in Construction 2024 in Wales

The CITB Wales Engagement Team delivered four Women in Construction taster events across Wales in July - engaging with 265 pupils from years 8-10, from 20 schools across Wales.

A whole host of employers and stakeholders joined the events to deliver inspirational talks and interactive activities to the girls. These included Tetrahedron-building, 360-degree Innovation learning, VR Paint Simulator, Foam Brick building, Toothpick Steel frame challenge, and the Quantity Surveying challenge where the girls had to manage a budget in order to procure the correct number of items to make their bracelets.

The very first Women in Construction event through the medium of Welsh was also delivered at the S4C centre, Yr Egin, in Carmarthen where pupils discussed their career options with local Welsh language construction and architecture companies and participated in hands-on activities bilingually.

A significant part of the taster events also involved breaking down stereotypes and misconceived perceptions of construction, using myth-busting games and signposting to the Go Construct website.

By the end of the event at Coleg Gwent, more than 50 girls were interested in a career in construction, a huge increase from the start of the event. Teachers were also impressed by the range of speakers and opportunities in construction for girls from all academic levels:

"What I noticed this year was more of the girls were interested in a role in construction, more so than last year. So, we must be all making a difference and mindsets are changing!"

"A massive thank you for letting us attend the event and show what WJ has to offer. A well prepared, successful event and thank you for the lunch provided".

"All the girls enjoyed the event and the opportunity to visit the Egin… everyone had enjoyed Nina's session with the tetrahedron".

Thanks to University of Wales Trinity St Davids, Coleg Gwent, Coleg Cambria and the Egin at S4C for hosting the events at their venues and for their continued support.