Following the news that female representation has reached a record high of 15.8% in construction, new research analysed different roles in the industry to compare the expected female representation with reality. 

The research, conducted by metals4U, reviewed the number of people in various trade jobs in the UK and the proportion of women and men in each, then compared this to the expected 15.8% of women in construction roles.  

Based on this research, there should be an estimated 118,460 women in the top 10 trade roles, but the actual figure in the UK is just 19,560, a massive shortage of 98,900. 

The job role with the biggest disparity is electricians, with a deficit of 29,448 women (3,574 compared to an expected 33,022), followed by plumbers (26,158 deficit), and then carpenters and joiners (13,191 deficit). 

These three jobs also have the lowest percentage representation of women in construction, with just 1.1% of carpenters, followed by 1.7% of electricians, and 2% of plumbers. 

The top five results of the metals4U research are as follows: 

The three jobs with the smallest deficit of female workers are glaziers (1,370), plasterers (1,871), and roles in floor and wall covering (2,493), while painters and decorators have the biggest percentage of female tradespeople (5.1%). 

Paul McFadyen, Chairman of metals4U, commented: “It’s fantastic to see women represented in construction at the highest level in recorded history, but this clearly hasn’t filtered down to many of the top trades yet. 

“While the industry has taken significant steps forward and made considerable progress in gender equality, there is still some way to go to improve female representation across all roles.”