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As part of the #BuildingEquality 2018 Campaign, Kathy O’Leary, Safety, Health and Environmental (SHE) Manager, BAM Ireland, shares her story as a woman in construction.
I was very lucky to have an inspirational Physics teacher Mr. Maurice Manning in St. Conleths’ School who took an interest in encouraging me to study STEM subjects. He signed me up to attend an event about Women in Engineering and it was wonderful to hear stories from women in a diverse range of engineering disciplines.
That changed my career choice (from nuclear physics) to civil engineering as I was attracted to the range of subjects I could study and I was always interested in working abroad.
Unfortunately, in my career I have not had many female role models where I have worked but have been mentored by some great men who did not care what gender you were: simply were you interested in progressing, learning and improving your contribution at work.
One of the best things we can do is invite females at schools into workplaces where they can see what the job entails and find out from women in industry what is on offer. In this day and age we need to have a workforce in industry that represents the diversity that exists in a modern Ireland.
To learn more about the #BuildingEquality campaign and to share your own story, please visit our dedicated page here