"You don't need muscles to work in the construction industry"

LANI ROSE R DIZON

DOHA she always has a tendency to try something that deviates from the norm. And at a time when Qatari women who work in the construction industry here was unheard of, Thamer al Thani Sheikha bint Athba you dared to go against the tide, came into the world of the flourishing construction industry of Qatar and has never looked back since.

In a span of just four years, she has added to her list of accomplishments-one of the first Qatari women of the construction industry, becoming the youngest and the first ever female possesses a Qatari Diar construction giant Vinci executive level in construction (QDVC), and is able to demonstrate Qatar meet in Doha at the recent COP18 sustainable projects.

Today, her daily schedule is filled with loads of responsibilities and activities as the main support service officer at QDVC. But the one thing that they also determined has to do is to more Qatari ladies in the building sector.

On the "women in construction" Conference organized by Qatar University Qatar Green Building Council and recently, Sheikha Athba pointed out that out of half a million workers in the construction industry of Qatar, only 2,800 are women, with only 143 of them are Qataris.

She also said that the majority of women involved in the construction business here were doing administrative jobs, with only a handful of women working on site. Overall, there are about 715 adds Qatari men and women who work in the construction industry here, they.

Tell her exciting journey in the world of construction she says "four years ago I never thought I would work in this area. It all began during the first Qatar Career Fair. At that time I wanted something new to do and was thinking about switching careers. So, I went to the career fair to see what possibilities there were for me.

And I met Stephanie, head of public relations at QDVC. I was looking for work and Stephanie offered me a chance. Then, I asked her "how many Qatari women do you have? ' She said nothing.

Then, I was wondering what was wrong with the company.

Why there were no women there? So, I wanted to experiment. I also wanted to take part in the construction of my own country. And so I said I would give it a try. I won't lose anything ".

Sheikha Athba who studied computer science at the school and the thought of pursuing medicine switched to art when she became a member of the University. "I noted that there are so many people in the sciences department and only a few were in art. So I said to myself that I wanted to try what it would be like to be there. I was also an artist. I won 3rd place in a competition in rural art in Qatar. So I changed my field, from science to art, and it turned out to be a good decision.

I just wanted to be more diverse, and I have a strong foundation of science and art that is favourable to the construction industry ".

In 2002 graduated with honors from University of Qatar, she followed special courses on CO2 reduction and measurement in the United Kingdom, and joined the QDVC in 2010 at the head of the Department of sustainable development for the support services chief in 2012.

Do her Master's degree in business administration from the HEC Paris in Education City, she is probably to graduate in 2014. Looking back on the day when they first in the construction sector, she says, "it's tremendously changed my personality. And I'm not the same as before. As one of the few Qatari women work in this sector, had my family a bit of booking when I first at the industry.

There were questions why I wanted to enter this field, while there are so many other options around. But QDVC is a really good company and the people there are very dedicated and professional.

Being here I have learned to overcome some fears and could get out of my comfort zone. It was as intended. " During her stint as sustainable head, would usually visit construction sites to Sheikha Athba recycling bins and other systems to check on the spot.

Today when she incorporates five departments including human resources, legal, Qatarisation, QHSE (quality, health, safety and environment), sustainable development and, she says, "I would like to attract more Qatari women to come and work with me. I would also like to have more women engineers.

Automation and technology have made it so much easier for women to work on site. Muscles not needed much more. With construction projects worth billions in the country, why don't we encourage the half of the population, women, to be involved and help the men too, "she adds.

Finally, talk about what has kept her motivated in a challenging field, she says, "as women, we also need to come out of our way. This is a wonderful experience, I want to share with other women. Also, the CEO confided to me and had so much confidence in me. That's why I didn't want to let him down.

I'm trying hard to work here. Trust was really important. When you have senior people trusting you see, you need to Show some kind of respect, and try to work very hard not to let them down, "Sheikha Athba is added.

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