WE:Build ConStructEd 2026: Building Confidence, Skills and Futures Through Construction

Now in its eighth year, the programme continues to provide women with an opportunity to explore careers in construction and the built environment while gaining practical experience in a supportive and encouraging environment. At a time when women make up just a small proportion of the UK’s construction workforce, programmes like WE:Build ConStructEd play an important role in helping participants build confidence, develop transferable skills, and connect directly with industry professionals.

As Equate Scotland’s Business and Engagement Manager, Joski, explained:

“The main thing for us is about making sure women can gain confidence and skills in a safe and supported environment. Skills that both include essential soft skills and technical hands-on skills.”

She added:

“On top of the skills, we wanted to connect them with the industry so they can see what real opportunities are like out there in the sector and also potential further study routes.”

Day One: Building Strong Foundations

The programme began in Dunfermline with a day dedicated to developing the employability skills that are essential across every area of the construction industry.

Our Deputy Director Dr. Kerstin Doig and Professional Engagement Coordinator Dr. Ellen Davis-Walker from Equate Scotland delivered interactive workshops on project management, teamwork, and assertive communication. Through practical exercises and group activities, participants explored how to communicate effectively, manage competing priorities, and collaborate with others to solve problems.

The exercises encouraged participants to work with different people throughout the day, helping them build confidence and adaptability before heading on site.

One participant reflected:

“What I liked about the training today is that The teams kept changing so we had to learn to work with different people having different opinions than the old group each time.”

Another shared:

“What I liked about the training today is that The tasks and exercises definitely helped us get to know each other and practice expressing our thoughts and ideas.”

The day also provided an opportunity to hear directly from industry professionals. Participants were joined by Elaine Ellis, Skills Planning Manager (Construction and Net Zero) from Skills Development Scotland (SDS), Bethany Welsh, Social Impact Adviser  from Balfour Beatty, and Stuart Taylor from Forth Valley College, who discussed education and career pathways, training opportunities, the challenges facing the sector, and the exciting possibilities available across construction and the built environment.

Together, the sessions helped participants better understand the wide range of routes into the sector while setting the scene for the practical challenge that awaited them.

Days Two to Four: Bringing a Construction Project to Life

For the remaining three days, participants travelled to a truly unique location in St Ninians near Kelty, Fife.

The training site sits within a restored former opencast quarry and at the foot of the famous Charles Jencks earthworks. Today, the site is owned by National Pride and serves as a community space where local people come to walk, enjoy nature, and observe wildlife. It also provides an inspiring environment for experiential learning.

As Dale Lyon, Director from ConStructEd Scotland explained:

“It’s amazing to have them on site here at their new location where we’ve got 900 acres of reinstated opencast quarrying. The National Pride organisation run. We’re working with our base at the foot of Charles Jencks Fife Project, and it’s just a really inspiring area for us to bring such an inspirational learning activity to women from all over Scottish universities.”

Under Dale’s guidance, participants were split into two teams and tasked with constructing a bench overlooking the water. While the brief sounded relatively straightforward, participants quickly discovered that delivering even a small construction project requires careful planning, technical knowledge, teamwork, and resilience.

The challenge began with a plan and a site. Everything else had to be worked out by the teams.

As one of the mentors, Orláith McGirr, Student Social Impact Co-ordinator at Balfour Beatty explained:

“This week, they’ve been split into two groups, and tasked with building benches. They were given a plan but nothing else. So had to figure out how they were going to build the bench where they were going to put it. They had to work for environmental and coordinate with their team, and work with lots of different teamwork and communication skills to make sure they get through and build their benches.”

Over the three days, participants experienced the realities of managing a construction project from start to finish. They developed risk assessments and environmental strategies, interpreted plans, completed measurements and calculations, prepared the ground, constructed foundation formwork, prepared for concrete pouring, levelled surfaces, cut materials, assembled components, drilled, sanded, painted, and completed finishing works.

Alongside the technical tasks, participants also experienced and observed the different responsibilities involved in delivering a construction project successfully, helping them understand how various roles work together on site.

Health and safety was integrated throughout the project. Before any construction work took place, participants developed and followed their own risk assessments and method statements.

As Dale noted:

“It’s really key that the learners, when they’re on site are working to the best of health and safety measures. They’ve worked with their own risk assessment and method statements prior to do any activities and delivering the project to high quality.”

Experiencing the Reality of Construction

One of the most valuable aspects of the project was its emphasis on learning by doing.

Rather than simply hearing about site work, participants had the opportunity to experience the physical demands, challenges, and problem-solving involved in construction firsthand.

One participant reflected on how the experience deepened her understanding of health and safety within her own role:

“So I think the past few days have been really good, where a lot that I probably wouldn’t have learned if it wasn’t so hands on and so technical.”

She continued:

“Being able to be in that work area and actually experience what the guys are going through, I feel like I’ve got some resource behind me now to say and speak out on their behalf as well.”

The practical experience also highlighted the level of preparation required behind every project:

“One of the most Eye-Opening parts around the training was, personally, how much hard work it actually is, being in there with the kit and the tools and actually how much goes in behind these projects. It’s not just as simple as I want to build a bench or I want to put in a planter, you’ve actually got to stage out and plan and be prepared for the changes that come in as well, be able to have that adaptability.”

Another participant spoke about gaining an appreciation for construction workers and the realities of site-based work:

“It really gives you an insight on the whole labor working on site field. It gives an appreciation to what the people on actual site do and the fact that they have to do it five days a week, 7 to 5, for long, hard work.”

Participants also valued seeing the entire project lifecycle from conception to completion:

“It’s good that it wasn’t just like one particular activity. It was the entire project life cycle, right from the design, you know, risk management, everything towards the end, clearing of the site. So it’s good that we got access to every project stage in a particular project.”

The experience challenged participants to think critically, communicate effectively, and adapt to unexpected changes as they arose. For many, it was their first opportunity to see how technical knowledge, safety considerations, environmental awareness, and teamwork intersect on a live project.

Developing Skills Beyond Construction

A recurring theme throughout the programme was that success in construction depends on much more than technical ability alone.

Industry mentor and Graduate Social Impact Co-ordinator Eliza Butter from Balfour Beatty emphasised the importance of mindset, resilience, and teamwork:

“It’s people that have a can do attitude that are positive and willing to give everything a go, and will work as their team to find solutions. Nothing will ever go fully to plan.”

She added:

“No construction project or anything in the construction industry is done by one single person. So all these soft skills are just as vital as having the experience and knowledge to this stuff.”

The integration of soft skills and technical learning was particularly noticeable this year. Reflecting on the addition of an extra workshop day at the beginning of the programme, Dale observed:

“What’s been great this year we have added an extra day onto the programme, so they’ve had some pre-work working on some of the transversal skills, some of the softer employability skills, and we’re actually seeing the learners putting that into action during this week.”

For participants already working in the sector, the experience also provided valuable insight into operational roles on site.

One participant commented:

“Although already working in the construction industry, gaining the onsite experience has been great for building my knowledge and understanding of operational roles. I will have a better idea of how construction activities might impact my job role and be able to engage in conversations around operations with more confidence.”

Another reflected:

“I liked that the programme provided opportunities to develop problem-solving skills in real on-site situations, as well as to build communication skills and gain a better understanding of site hierarchy and teamwork within a professional environment.”

Perhaps one of the most striking reflections came from a participant who realised how much engineering and planning lies behind even the simplest structures:

“What I liked most about WE:Build ConStructEd 2026 was seeing that even the simplest structures—like a bench—are far more complex than they appear at first glance. Before this project, I thought a bench was just wood and legs. But executing it involved calculating foundations, designing concrete frames, selecting steel profiles, solving material connection problems, and managing tight timelines. This showed me that good engineering requires attention to every detail, even in seemingly straightforward projects. It completely changed how I approach design.”

A Lasting Legacy

By the end of the week, participants had created much more than two beautiful benches overlooking the loch.

They had built confidence, practical skills, industry knowledge, professional networks, and a deeper understanding of what a career in construction can offer.

For Dale, watching that transformation happen remains one of the most rewarding aspects of the programme:

“We’re again working with ladies who have made the choice to move into the world of STEM, and now taking a further choice to engage with a short program that gives them a microcosm of learning that really sets the scene from going into the real world and help them become more confident in the way they approach the workplace environment.”

The benches now stand as a lasting contribution to the local community, but the programme’s true impact lies in the confidence, skills, and inspiration that participants take with them into their future studies and careers.

A huge thank you to ConStructEd Scotland, National Pride, Balfour Beatty, Skills Development Scotland, Forth Valley College, our sponsors, mentors, speakers, and all 16 participants for making WE:Build ConStructEd 2026 such a memorable and impactful experience.