All parts of the construction industry are quantitatively and hierarchically male-dominated. In response to widespread calls for greater diversity within the sector, a number of government initiatives have been introduced to encourage women to pursue engineering degree courses, including construction programmes. Women represent the most significant group of untapped potential for the UK construction sector and so their recruitment and retention in the industry is vital for its future prosperity. This paper reports on part of an ESRC funded study exploring the impact of women construction students' workplace experiences on their career intentions. Workplace experiences are examined in the form of the year long industrial placement, as this is usually women's first major contact with the construction industry. The industrial placement also represents a key transitional stage in each student's process of becoming a construction professional (or not). Specifically, the research presented uses qualitative interviews with female construction students on industrial placement to analyse how women manage their integration into the industry, and the coping strategies women adopt. The paper concludes by explaining how the findings will be built upon in future stages of the research, in which a practical guidance document identifying initiatives to improve women's careers in construction will be developed for industry employers
