The Needle is Moving: Women in Construction Speak for 2026

It’s no secret that construction often gets labelled ‘male-dominated’. Although the gender split is still very clearly masculine, the needle has been shifting the last 2 decades.

For Women in Construction week, we went out to the industry to get lived experiences on the way things are. What it’s like for women today, their incredible careers, favourite projects, and how the sector has benefited from more allies and advocates for equality.

We would like to thank our respondents for taking the time to tell us their stories. Although there’s still more progress to work towards, it was wonderful to hear about some of the incredible positive shifts within the sector.

Key 2026 Insights: Women in Construction

• The 2026 Landscape: While women currently make up approximately 15% of the UK construction workforce, Daniel Owen sees a steady increase in female placements across site management, surveying, and senior operational roles.

• Recruitment Priorities: Breaking barriers requires moving beyond entry-level hires. In 2026, the focus must shift towards visible female leadership, addressing the gender pay gap, and ensuring inclusive site facilities (including correct PPE).

• Worker wellbeing: The feedback we received highlights that progress on inclusion must sit alongside better support for wellbeing on and off site, including awareness of the Lighthouse Charity and the help it offers to construction workers and their families.

A Career with No Ceiling: Why Women in Construction Say It's Worth It

One of the most compelling arguments for a career in construction rarely gets the attention it deserves: the legacy. As Helen Clements, Senior Social Value Manager at Morgan Sindall, puts it, the work "leaves an amazing legacy that will be there long after you have retired." Roads, bridges, hospitals, schools, homes. These are the permanent, everyday backdrops of people's lives, and the professionals who help deliver them play a direct role in shaping communities, reducing carbon footprints, and improving how people live. Few careers can say the same.

Emma Willans, Assistant Site Manager for HG construction, reinforces this from a more personal angle. "It's an incredibly rewarding industry seeing something physically be built at the end of a project that then becomes people's home, workspace, local shop or centre to visit." Every day brings new challenges and new things to learn, she says, and that combination of variety and visible, tangible progress is what makes the work genuinely engaging.

Construction means change, it means new life it’s creating the future. My biggest enjoyment comes from the way in which new development transforms places. Creating buildings and spaces that people are proud to call home, businesses choose to invest in and visitors choose to travel to.

Clare Elliott, Service Director, Wakefield Council

What also comes through consistently is how flexible and progressive the sector can be for those willing to shape their own path. Angela Carney, founder of Carney Consultancy and President of the Northern Counties Builders Federation, is a case in point. Starting in administration, she went on to complete a civil engineering degree at Leeds University, progressed to site manager, and eventually specialised in health and safety, where she has spent over 20 years building and leading her own consultancy. Her career did not follow a straight line, and that, she argues, is rather the point. Progression is genuine and merit-based, shaped by your skills, drive and results rather than a rigid qualification ladder. In an industry that continues to evolve, that culture matters enormously.

The Projects You Remember and the People You Help Get There

Ask women in construction about their career highlights and a clear theme emerges: the greatest achievements are rarely the biggest structures. They are the people, the communities, and the moments that stay with you long after the project ends.

Angela reflects on her consultancy winning two separate awards for excellence in people development, recognising years of taking individuals with no prior health and safety experience and supporting them through to full qualification, competence and confidence. "Watching team members grow, take on responsibility, and thrive, often surpassing what they thought possible, is incredibly rewarding." Over 30 years as a consultant, trainer and advisor, the projects she values most are always those "where we've built safer, stronger teams and cultures that last long after the project ends."

Helen Clements captures something equally important about the community dimension of the work: "I love it all. Every project has something special about it, when you understand the community that is going to use it and the difference having new facilities make to the end users." That connection between the work and the people it ultimately serves is what gives it meaning.

Emma brings that feeling to life through a specific example: tracking a student accommodation development from piling through to a finished building, following every milestone across the build, and watching the finished result take shape. It is something she counts among her proudest professional moments, and a reminder that construction rewards those who take the long view.

For Helen Mills, Customer Care Manager at Jackson & Jackson, the highlights are more personal. Managing kitchen and bathroom schemes and seeing residents genuinely delighted on completion is what she points to most proudly. It is a reminder that some of the most rewarding moments in construction happen at a very human scale.

Standing in Your Corner: The Allies Who Made a Difference

One answer to the question of allyship might challenge a few assumptions. For Angela, who has worked in the industry for over 36 years, "the greatest allies and cheerleaders have overwhelmingly been men." Starting with her first contracts manager back in 1996, who backed her potential from the start, through to colleagues, clients and leaders across her career, she describes being "championed based purely on what I could deliver." That support, she says, was instrumental in her progression from engineer to site manager, health and safety specialist, and ultimately to leading her own consultancy.

Helen Clements is equally enthusiastic about the network she has built, and reading her list of allies gives a real sense of what a supportive professional community looks like in practice. From senior managers to female peers across the industry. It is a long, generous list, and a strong signal of how much a broad network matters.

Emma points to a different kind of allyship, and perhaps the most human example in these responses. Her greatest support came from the QA manager at her first job, a woman who made clear from day one that she was there to help with any challenge faced, and who consistently encouraged her to keep progressing. "That's always pushed me to do better," she says. It is a reminder that the most impactful professional relationships are often one-to-one, and that women championing women is just as vital as any wider initiative.

Ultimately, allyship in construction often comes from exactly where you might expect it: working together, pulling in the same direction, and achieving something good. That shared investment in the work is, perhaps, where the culture shifts one project at a time.

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A Message to Parents

The image many parents carry of construction is often rooted in physical graft, limited prospects and a working environment that feels far removed from their daughter's ambitions. In many respects, that image belongs to a different era.

Angela addresses these concerns directly, drawing on a career that has taken her from administration to engineering, site management to founding her own consultancy, CFIOSH status and leadership roles at sector level. Construction, she argues, is "far more diverse and opportunity-rich than the traditional image suggests," encompassing engineering, management, health and safety, environmental consulting, training and business leadership, with new specialisms emerging every year. Concerns about the sector being unsafe, physically demanding or unwelcoming are "understandable but outdated," she says. The industry has made real strides in inclusion, modern safety standards, mental health support and flexible working. Her advice to any parent of a daughter with problem-solving skills, resilience and ambition is straightforward: explore it seriously, because "she could build an incredibly fulfilling, well-paid career."

Whilst the perception of construction years ago may be ‘dirty, messy, a mans world’, times really have changed and the industry is exciting, vibrant, diverse, and ever changing. It really is an interesting industry to be a part of. 

Beth Chamberlain, Project Manager

Emma adds a practical reassurance. The variety of roles within construction means that even if someone enters a position that does not feel like the right fit, they will have encountered several others along the way that might suit them far better. The industry is adapting with the times, she points out, and women working within it are far more accepted than they once were. She speaks from direct personal experience of being well supported and actively encouraged to progress.

Helen Clements offers a simpler reassurance, no less powerful for its directness: "It is the best industry to work in and the people all look out for each other."

What Comes Next: The Priorities That Matter Most

The conversation around women in construction has shifted. The question is no longer whether women belong in the industry. It is about building on existing momentum and making the next decade count.

Angela sets out a clear agenda: amplify visible success stories and role models, from engineers and site managers to consultants, directors and business owners, so the next generation sees what is genuinely possible. Invest in structured mentoring programmes that pair experienced professionals with those entering or progressing in the sector. Sustain outreach into schools, the kind of work she herself carries out through NAWIC North East. And importantly, continue to recognise and celebrate the men who actively champion women, because allyship is an essential part of the picture, not a footnote.

Emma identifies something practical and specific that is easy to overlook. Getting more women into construction is not solely about changing perceptions from the outside; it is about making the path in visible. "The hardest step is just finding an avenue into the role," she says. Continuing to promote the industry and making the routes into it easier to find and understand is where the next push needs to happen.

Helen Clements offers the sharpest closer of all: "It is not about gender. It is about the industry, why and how it delivers amazing projects working collaboratively together." There are more opportunities in construction than there are people to fill them. The priority now is to change the narrative so that every talented person, regardless of gender, sees construction as a genuine career of choice.

The progress is real. The work is not finished. But if these conversations are anything to go by, the industry is moving in the right direction.

Looking Ahead: The Next 12 Months

Although the clouds of 2025 are still visible, parts of construction are starting to look at little brighter, with many projects gaining momentum and the paralysis surrounding the red box budgets beginning to dissipate. Daniel Owen itself is starting to see an increase in education-related builds and staffing requests from projects under £100m.

The UK government is also increasing the construction apprenticeship opportunities and the awareness of how successful, and previously underestimated, a career in the sector truly is. Combined with the optimism we’ve heard from our respondents, its clear 2026 will continue to erode old-fashioned prejudices and increase the attraction for young people entering construction.

Supporting an Inclusive and Supportive Wellbeing Culture

Daniel Owen are proud to partner with the Lighthouse Charity who provide 24/7 holistic support to our UK and Ireland construction community on all aspects of emotional, physical and financial wellbeing. 

Their support is delivered through a free and confidential 24/7 helpline, live web chat service and text facility which provides support on a huge variety of wellbeing issues. These services are complemented by their free self-support app,  along with their Lighthouse Beacons who provide a safe space for people to share concerns. 

A crucial element of the charity’s strategy is also to provide proactive resources and shine a spotlight on initiatives that illuminate our amazing industry. 

Sarah Bolton, CEO of the Lighthouse Charity said, “Women in Construction Week gives the industry the opportunity to celebrating progress and recognise where change is still needed.

We need to promote the industry as an inclusive and rewarding career choice from an early age and engage with schools and universities to demonstrate the diversity of roles available including trades, engineering, quantity surveying, site management, digital construction, and more. 

Our industry is suffering from a skills shortage so it’s essential that we inspire new talent, support apprenticeship programmes and encourage mentoring to ensure that we have the skilled workforce needed to meet industry demands, now and in the future. And that means equipping our workforce with the soft skills they need to navigate today’s challenges too. 

Lighthouse provide support for everyone in our industry, whether it’s helping people through difficult times, or providing training to enhance their knowledge and skills.”

• Women employed in construction rose by 3% in 2025 (ONS).
• The number of women in construction has risen by 55,000 over the last 10 years.
• Health & Safety changes are making on-site jobs more accessible.

Thank you for reading

We would like to thank the following individuals for their incredible input to this article:

• Angela Carney, Managing Director of Carney Consultancy Ltd
• Beth Chamberlain, Project Manager
• Clare Elliott, Service Director, Wakefield Council
• Emma Willans, Assistant Site Manager for HG construction
• Helen Clements, Senior Social Value Manager at Morgan Sindall Construction
• Helen Mills, Customer Service Manager at Jackson & Jackson
• Sarah Bolton, CEO, The Lighthouse Charity

If you or anyone you know needs support, reach out for 24/7 free and confidential support now;

24/7 helplines; 0345 605 1956, (UK)  1800 939 122 (ROI) 

Live chat www.lighthousecharity.org 

Text HARDHAT to 85258 (UK) or 50808 (ROI)

Find out more at:
https://lighthousecharity.org/women-in-construction-week/