Breaking Barriers: Empowering Women in Plastering

Through bias-free hiring practices and innovative mentorship programs at our training academies, we are helping to break down barriers and create a more diverse workforce.

The Benefits

Bringing women into plastering is only beneficial. Some examples of those benefits are:

Diversity Benefits

An inclusive workforce brings with it more creativity, better problem-solving and diverse points of view.

By encouraging more women to join this workforce, we are advocating fresh perspectives that can help innovate traditional ways of working and revolutionise a traditionally male-dominated industry.

Reduces The Skills Gap

A significant skills shortage is prevalent across the entire UK construction industry, and the demand for new skilled plasterers is growing. With an increasing number of women being encouraged to pursue a career in plastering, the construction industry can benefit from a virtually untapped talent pool and work to plug the gap.

Opening Up Opportunities

Arguably, the most important benefit of increasing the number of women in the plastering industry is that it offers more opportunities within a traditionally male-dominated field to acquire lifelong skills and establish a career.

Challenges Women Face in The Plastering Industry

Recent data gathered by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that only 13.6% of the overall construction workforce is female, down from a peak of 15.8% in 2023.

Progress is being made, but women entering the industry still face challenges and barriers to entry, such as:

• Gender stereotypes
• Misconceptions about the physical demands of the job
• Unfair hiring practices
• Discriminatory workplace policies
• Lack of inclusivity

When asked about finding her feet in the plastering industry, Charlotte Robinson, Interior Solutions Trainer at British Gypsum, discussed how she has seen her flair for practical work come to life in her current role, where she helps train the next generation of plasterers to enter the industry and thrive.

Discussing her initial fears of joining the industry, Charlotte said:

“Having worked within a sales role for British Gypsum, when I had the opportunity to come into the academy, I thought to myself “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to do this”, and then I committed, the business was a huge support to me, and I really enjoyed the new challenge. There’s no reason why women can’t be in trades or be in construction. I think it’s a great career for people who are hands-on and enjoy physically building something. I really recommend it.”

Moving Forward

British Gypsum and the wider Saint-Gobain group are working to address these issues not only by welcoming women into the industry but also by helping to raise awareness of the benefits of gender diversity through our Building Better campaign.

We’re empowering women to enter the plastering industry through our platform and by supporting industry leaders like the Magnificent 7, a group of seven accomplished women in the construction sector who are leading the charge for greater gender diversity in the industry.

Our industry partners are helping to accelerate women's advancement in plastering by implementing structured mentorship programs, adopting transparent hiring practices and creating comprehensive workplace policies that actively support diverse teams. Male professionals also play a crucial role as mentors and advocates in this transformation.

Investing in attracting more women to the plastering industry delivers measurable business value: addressing critical labour shortages, bringing fresh perspectives to job sites and creating more dynamic teams. Companies that actively recruit, train and advance female professionals are already seeing higher productivity and innovation, setting new standards for excellence in the trade.

British Gypsum remains committed to advocating for women in plastering, ensuring that opportunities continue to grow for future generations.