The voices of women at GGS

On the 8^th of March it is International Women’s Day which is a chance to celebrate the achievements of women and accelerate conversations on gender based discrimination in society as a whole.

In the industry we work in, women have historically been unrepresented despite their significant contributions to the world of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Much of our work at GGS takes place on site, which is a predominantly male dominated environment. So, it’s key that conversations continue around gender equality.

At GGS we want to continuously spotlight the voices of the women who are not just an integral part of the team but who regularly innovative and improve our business. We sat down with three women at GGS and asked them about some questions about their opinions and achievements, for International Women’s Day.

Heather: In a management role you’ll probably find more women, but less so when it comes to site work because construction sites as they’ll be very male dominated.

Megan: Yes I think a lot of people are quite surprised to see me turn up. I think they’re always expecting a man to turn up to do site work because its rare to see someone else in my position that is a woman.

Heather: Yes, I used to get it a lot. Especially where if I was with a man with me, they would always assume he was my senior, until it became apparent that I was leading the visit.

Emily: I still get that too and actually it’s quite frustrating. They’ll always ask the male colleagues the questions on site and turn their backs on me when I know the answer and have all the notes.

Megan: Yes, sometimes they won’t even look at you.

Heather: I wouldn’t say this happens in every circumstance and there’s obviously people that very good but we can see it is an unconscious bias.

Heather: One simple fix would be having toilets for both genders and assume that they will have women on site.

Megan: Sometimes they use the women’s toilets as storage which I guess happens because they use it less.

Heather: Toilets for women are usually locked as well which means going to the site office to get the key which takes up time out of the work day.

Megan: Sometimes there won’t even be a key to get into the women’s toilet.

Heather: There is also obviously flirty behavior and inappropriate comments that goes on site too which is not great and needs to change. For example, I once worked on a site in a busy city center on an air quality contract in a big empty building. The site chaperone who was probably about 15 years my senior, was making repeated inappropriate comments towards me about how I smelt nice, which I assume he was probably just trying to be nice, but in reality is just really uncomfortable.

Emily: I’ve had similar experiences. I worked on a site where there was a narrow pathway to the Women’s toilet. He kept calling me baby and girl and made a comment that I was lucky to have a Women’s toilet otherwise we’d have to share. It’s really derogatory.

Megan: I’ve had verging on sexual comments before where I was giving instructions and a man said something along the lines of ‘You like to crack that whip don’t you?’ and its difficult to always know how to respond.

Emily: It’s quite hard to be assertive when you’re made to feel intimidated.

Heather: Of course we can report this behavior but I’m not sure we should have to do that. Whenever I have made a report it’s always been taken seriously but there’s always an opportunity to do better.

Emily: Sometimes raising a report can feel like a lot of hassle and it can feel like making a fuss, especially if you’re going to come back.

Heather: My mum. Both of my parents actually as they were both Geologists and lecturers at a University. I was always around geologists. My summer holidays were all about going on hikes to see particular geological formations  Which will have contributed to my interests.

Emily: I think for me it was my lecturer at University. She was a lecturer in Contaminated Land and had worked in the industry previously. She made the subject really interesting so it got me inspired too.

Megan: I was also inspired at University by my teachers.

Heather: Well I think it’s good that International Women’s Day is recognized and it gets people thinking every year.

Megan: It’s a good reminder that we are working in industries that are traditionally  male dominated.

Emily: I love seeing it advertised about the women who have invented and innovated in the industry

Heather: I’m proud of staying at GGS from being a graduate working my way up to the role I’m in now.

Megan: For me, it’s about being trusted with big significant projects, such as recently working on a large scale verification project on the project management side of things.

Emily: I feel like I’m progressing really well and taking on bigger projects as well

Heather: I think it’s good to speak a bit about maternity leave. GGS have been so supportive of me coming back from maternity and I don’t know if I would have got this treatment elsewhere. They update policies regularly and I’ve felt so supported.  I’ve seen friends who have been treated awfully by other companies and have lost their jobs on maternity leave so I’m so grateful. It’s unfortunate this isn’t a reflection of employers across the country.

Emily: The whole PPE thing is still an issue in this industry. It’s really difficult to find PPE in women’s sizes that actually fit. I remember an experience where I was trying to find a smaller pair of gloves. A lot of the shops just don’t offer smaller sizes for women and they seemed so shocked when I was asking for it. One of them even made a joke about getting some pink gloves which was quite silly. Why would you assume that because we’re women we all want to wear pink on site visits?

International Women’s Day is still very important. In a time where women still face regular issues and discrimination in the workplace, many things still need to change. It’s important to spotlight and raise conversations like these to hopefully move things forward.

At GGS we are proud of supporting these conversations and the women who uplift and support our organization today and in the future. We look forward to seeing all of the brilliant things that Heather, Megan and Emily are going to achieve here at GGS.