Maryam

I studied Civil Engineering at Kingston University, graduating in 2008. I then started working on the landmark Olympic Park ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games. It was an amazing project and marked my first step into the construction industry.

At that time, I also started to learn more about the commercial aspects, and in 2011 decided to go back to university, studying and working part-time to become a quantity surveyor. Since then, I’ve worked for several different companies in a quantity surveyor (QS) role, including John Rowan and Partners where I’ve now been for almost three years. It’s been great fun – I’ve kept learning all the time, and the next step for me is to become a chartered surveyor, for which I’m hoping to take the tests in June.

When I was working on the Olympic Park project, there was a QS team that I was able to shadow. I previously had no idea what a QS did, but I became so interested. Every day is different, and there are so many opportunities to learn. I’ve been doing this for 14 years now, and no two projects have been the same. They each bring their own unique challenges to solve.

From my studies to now, women have remained in the minority. When I was going to Stratford to work on the Olympic Park project, you would only really see men. There were hardly any women.

I found it to be a bit challenging at the start of my career – I’d regularly be in meetings as the only woman, and that could sometimes be difficult. In those early days I wouldn’t say more than two words, and I questioned if it was the right place for me. But it was never uncomfortable, and I was truly interested in the job, and to find out where it would take me. And today, I can safely say that I’m immensely proud to be part of this profession.

I actually had one boss that I really looked up to and had a fantastic relationship with. He would often provide me with the recognition and appreciation that I needed to know I was doing a good job, and actually told me that he had massive respect for me working as a woman in such a male-dominated field.

He would always give me time and listen to me carefully, and those things matter. The relationship with your boss is extremely important. You need to feel safe and that the trust is there. If it’s not, people can feel too afraid to take risks in case they make a mistake.

This job is extremely highly skilled, and even people with many years of experience sometimes won’t know the answer. But if you have the trust and confidence of your boss, and feel as though you can go to them for advice and help, then you can really push yourself.

In terms of the culture, I think much can be done. From menstruation cycles to the menopause, the lives of women are in many ways completely different to those of men, yet often these things can be overlooked.

I think the first and most important step is to acknowledge and be aware of these differences. Only then can the right steps be taken and respected, whether that’s providing more comfortable environments for women who are struggling with these issues or implementing other helpful measures.