Women working in the property sector will come under the spotlight next Monday – that's March 8th – at an event to mark International Women's Day. The virtual lunchtime event will feature Patricia Power, the chartered quantity surveyor who riveted the nation weekly when she starred in the original Room to Improve series, frequently reining in the architect Dermot Bannon's flights of spending fancy.
Power has forged a successful career of her own, which she will be discussing with the president of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, Micheál Mahon, and a guest panel from within the industry. So far 300 women surveyors have signed up, and bookings are still open.
The society will also use the event to launch its Women in Surveying Mentoring and Leadership Development Pilot Programme. Designed to increase diversity within the profession, the scheme will connect women with mentors working in roles across construction, land and property.
In a largely male-dominated sector it’s a welcome initiative. “The number of women entering careers in property, construction and land is rising all the time, but we still have a long way to go to get to gender parity,” says the SCSI’s chief executive, Shirley Coulter. The programme is intended to “provide women who are starting out in the profession, who are looking to take the next step in their careers or who are re-entering the workforce with the practical advice and tools they need to achieve their career ambitions”.
Under its equality, diversity and inclusion strategy, the SCSI says, it plans to address challenges it sees within the sector for women at particular career stages. “We aim to start an open conversation within industry as to how we can work together to overcome barriers to career progression for female surveyors.”
