Women in BIM’s new Mentoring Scheme aims to improve gender equality in the built environment by nurturing the skills of women in construction and infrastructure roles around the world
Diversity and inclusion have always been part of the core principles of Women in BIM and as an organisation it strives to integrate and nurture the talent and capabilities of its members, as well as taking positive action to increase respect and fairness throughout the construction industry.
Fostering cultural, ethical and social diversity is high on the WIB agenda and one area in particular which they champion is gender equality.
As part of its mission to achieve greater gender equality in the built environment, WIB has launched a new Mentoring Scheme.
When WIB was founded back in 2012 by Rebecca De Cicco, managing director of Digital Node, one of the first key objectives was to address the fundamental issue of the lack of women in BIM-related roles. Therefore, nurturing and supporting women in the built environment became one of the main drivers for the organisation.
Support women in construction and infrastructure roles
The WIB Mentoring Scheme has been developed to support women in construction and infrastructure roles throughout the world, allowing WIB to nurture skills and offer support and guidance to help elevate their careers.
“This is an exciting time for us, and we welcome industry support in this initiative. As an organisation, one of our main goals has always been to support and inspire as well as encourage women into BIM-related roles and opportunities. One of the ways in which we do this is by fostering stable and productive connections for our members,” De Cicco said.
“With the launch of our WIB Mentoring Scheme, we aspire to provide the structures needed to lead more women in the exciting and growing world of BIM, help them climb the ladders they have set their eyes on and see them succeed.”
Core WIB team member and BIM consultant Katya Veleva has been instrumental in the development of the initiative. With her extensive mentoring experience, she is leading the support and development of the WIB Mentoring Scheme.
She said: “We have been working for years on promoting and connecting women in the industry, often asking our members to put themselves out there, to speak on panels or give talks in order to improve representation, and that can be a challenging endeavour for a lot of people. This year we are going a step further and our mentoring scheme is the embodiment of our commitment to continuous support for gender equality.”
Inspire collaboration, knowledge and skills
The WIB Mentoring Scheme is an initiative designed to inspire collaboration, and the exchange of knowledge and skills, in order to promote the development of more women and people of minority genders, into the world of BIM. While WIB recognises that an intersectional approach to diversity in the industry is vital, for this initiative, it has chosen to focus on gender identity.
Anyone with a professional background in BIM has been invited by WIB to join the programme as a mentor, and it invites all women and people of minority gender with the desire to develop in BIM, to join as mentees.
Through the Mentoring Scheme, WIB aims to unite people with a passion for technology and collaboration in construction, and respond to experiences, that many people have faced, of exclusion or under-representation in the industry.
“Once all applications have been received, we will conduct interviews with all the applicants to ensure we understand their experience, motivations and requirements,” Veleva said.
“We will establish the most appropriate mentor-mentee matches and issue them with mentoring contracts and the WIB Mentoring Handbook to use as support. After which the scheme for individuals will begin.”
Further details of the WIB Mentoring Scheme can be found on the WIB website: womeninbim.org.
Rebecca De Cicco
Founder
Women in BIM
