WOMEN IN CONSTRUCTION INTERVIEW: DR. SHETHA ALZUBAIDI

The Big 5 hosts Dr. Shetha Alzubaidi, Chief Executive Officer & Partner at Brookson Project Management, as a judge of the Women in Construction Awards on November 27 at 17:00 - 18:30 hrs.

Here's what Dr. Shetha Alzubaidi, Chief Executive Officer & Partner at Brookson Project Management revealed ahead of the Women in Construction Forum & Awards:

Women have contributed to the diverse fields of engineering in modern and historical times. Women are often under-represented in the fields of engineering, both in the academia and in the profession of engineering.

The presence and status of women in engineering has improved dramatically over the last half century. However, the progression of professional women into positions of leadership has been slow. Many women have worked hard to take gender out of the equation to simply be recognized for their skills and talents.

Integrating leadership into one’s core identity is particularly challenging for women, who must establish credibility in a culture that is deeply conflicted about whether, when and how they should exercise authority. But powerful women are scarce.

Women working in construction are on the increase. 37% of new entrants into the industry that came from higher education are women, proving that this industry quickly becoming one for the girls, not just the boys! Engineering still needs more women. Today, women have a lot of opportunities within the world of engineering, but I still think we have some way to go before both sexes are equally represented in construction leadership positions. 

With a concerted effort from key industry players there is a chance that more women will view a career in construction as a great one. Some of the successful D&I polices are eliminating derogatory behavior, bullying and harassment, as well as providing clear development and training opportunities to narrow the gender gap. Mentoring is also an effective way of retaining female staff and helping them climb the career ladder.

Construction has traditionally been thought of as male-dominated and if you were asked to name a female role model in the sector you’d probably be hard pressed to think of anyone. Here are some of the D&I ideas to support women empowerment in construction:

1. To treat staff fairly regardless of age, race, and gender;
2. To offer flexible working policy in order to encourage mothers returning to work after maternity leave;
3. To offer flexible working such as working from home;
4. To fund training seminars for women and an inclusive leadership training programme;
5. To assign career coaches and mentors to females;
6. To improve gender pay equality

About Dr. Shetha Alzubaidi -

Dr. Shetha Al-Zubaidi is the CEO and partner of one of Alfahim Avenue Investment Group companies called Brookson Project Management. She has international experience in UK and the Middle East for full range of development management extending over twenty five years. Leading and managing a team that coordinates all issues relating to the design, development & construction activities of major projects.

From 1990 to August 2004 Dr. Shetha worked for leading consultancies in UK participating in different projects such as Capita Business Centre in Blackburn. From August 2004 to August 2007 Dr. Shetha worked for UAE leading real estate master developer, Nakheel, participating in different mega structure project such as Palm Jumeirah, Arabian Canal and Palm Deira. From August 2007 to February 2015 she worked with Al-Rajhi Group as Developments Director / Vice President in two real estate companies in UAE, Tatweer UAQ & Tameer Holding Investment. From February 2015 to June 2017 Dr Shetha worked as a Senior Vice President in Damac Properties leading international and national projects.

Dr. Shetha holds BSc in Civil Engineering. MSc in Environmental Geo-technology and PhD in Civil Engineering from UK.

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