AS the world marks International Women s Day today (Monday March 8) a leading developer Barratt Homes is encouraging more women to consider a career in the construction industry. While female construction workers have increased steadily over the past 12 years, the proportion of women in the industry is still significantly lower, something housebuilder Barratt Homes is keen to change. Research figures from the union for construction workers, GMB, showed that if the rate of female employees continues to rise at the rate it is now, women won’t equal men until 2194. Hayley Chilton, from Kingswinford, a senior site manager at one of the housebuilder’s developments in Ledbury, dipped her toe into the housebuilding industry after graduating from the University of Lancaster in 2011 with a BSc in food, nutrition, and dietetics - inspired by growing up with a dad that worked in the construction industry.