International Women’s Day (IWD) is annual worldwide celebration of of the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
The theme of this year’s IWD is #BalanceforBetter. The campaign highlights how a balanced world is a better world, and calls on individuals to celebrate women’s achievement, raise awareness against bias and take action for equality.
This March 8th, we asked the women and men of BREEAM to strike the #BalanceforBetter pose and share their thoughts on gender equality.
Find out what gender balance means to our team in the context of work, lifestyle and wider society…
Eleni Soulti and Tamsin McCabe
Encourage children to play with a diverse range of toys to help shape their preferences towards a variety of subjects and encourage gender balance in not only the construction industry, but all sectors.
Eleni Soluti, Senior Technical Consultant
Tamsin McCabe, International Scheme Manager
George Foden
Gender balance improves post-disaster reconstruction by enabling better identification of gender-specific vulnerabilities in affected communities and promoting a more inclusive and resilient recovery process.”
George Foden, QSAND Support Officer
Kerri-Emma Dobson
Gender balance creates resilience against the ‘business as usual’ trap by bringing about new ideas that may have been missing from the historically male-dominated construction industry.
Kerri-Emma Dobson, Senior Technical Consultant
Tim Wiseman
Gender balance makes decision-making more reflective of collective interests
Tim Wiseman, Domestic Refurbishment Scheme Manager
Katie Plumridge and David Leonard
If something is unbalanced, it is generally unstable. Gender balance creates stability within the construction industry through a diverse workforce with multi-dimensional ways of thinking
Katie Plumridge, Graduate
David Leonard, New Construction Team Leader
Paul Thistlewaite
I believe that a more equal world benefits everyone. Both men and women will be better off if free of the outdated cultural expectations relating to gender
Paul Thistlethwaite, Principal Consultant
Jasmine Schmid
Gender balance is important to ensure there are professional role models of all genders to support new talent coming up through an organisation.
Jasmine Schmid, BREEAM In-Use Coordinator
Irene Scudu
Recognising and celebrating women’s achievements in the construction industry and showcasing examples of women who hold different roles in the sector raises awareness about women’s abilities, educates girls and boys on diversity and promotes gender balance.
Irene Scudu, International Technical Consultant
Jonathan Gilbert and Kay Tyrrell
Gender balance can provide the creative stimulus that the construction sector needs to take on the challenge of climate change
Jonathan Gilbert, Technical Consultant
Kay Tyrrell, International Account Manager
Simran Kullar
Creating a gender balance will encourage younger women in to the construction industry by helping to break down barriers to gender equality
Simran Kullar, CEEQUAL Technical Consultant
Sam Turner
Successes in the careers of women and men should be both encouraged and their achievements equally celebrated. Deserved recognition for work done should be outwardly received, regardless of gender and regardless of industry sector. Ultimately, it is paramount to reach gender parity in the workplace and society as a whole by working towards a culture where no disparities exist. A gender balanced world is a stronger, healthier & more stable world
Sam Turner, BREEAM In-Use Consultant
Charlene Clear
This day offers an opportunity for us ALL to reflect on how we perceive and take action to bridge the inequalities that sadly exist within our society.
Charlene Clear, Stakeholder Engagement Manager
Gwyn Roberts
All too often I attend meetings and events about housebuilding, usually the balance is in favour of white older males. We need diversity in the housebuilding sector, after all it isn’t just white older males that live in homes.
Gwyn Roberts, Homes & Communities Team Leader
Tim Bevan
Promoting equality and achieving gender balance deepens and widens the pool of empowered innovators, leaders and motivators that our businesses, industry and society need for us thrive and in turn deliver the solutions to today’s challenges – That will create a legacy that we can all be proud to be a part of.
Tim Bevan, Director of BREEAM Operations
Wendy Thorpe
You only need to look at nature to see how virtually everything in the world benefits from the contributions made from male and female representations.
Wendy Thorpe, BREEAM Programme Manager
Shamir Ghumra
We all need a construction industry that is not gendered to thrive and grow
Shamir Ghumra, BREEAM Director