BAM Bouw en Techniek hosted a number of girls in Rotterdam as part of Girls' Day on April 14. BAM trainee Claire Wagener was involved in organizing the day and looks back on it with great pleasure. "What an energy! Not only me, but everyone was happy that day!"
Claire, who did you get on the floor?
We had eleven girls aged twelve and thirteen visit us, all students from an Mavo bridge class at the Wolfert Lansing school in Bergschenhoek. They started out shy, but they soon loosened up and asked all kinds of questions. That was a lot of fun.
Why did you participate in Girls' Day? Why is it important?
Because it takes lots of young, enthusiastic, fun, curious people who enjoy working on innovations. In construction, the construction task is huge and it's good to put our shoulders to the wheel together; men and women. Because girls often don't know what is possible within the 'engineering' sector, we like to show them.
What did you show and/or do to the girls?
We had put together a very varied program. That turned out to be a good move, because that way there was always something new and different to do. They started with a tour of circular center De HER in Rotterdam, which was built by BAM with reused materials and is focused on reusing, upcycling, refurbishing and repairing. Then they went on to build a tower. They were also allowed to virtually walk through a building, first with VR glasses on, then using the app Open Space.
That tower, did it have to be from a blueprint?
Haha, no, we had deliberately kept it as general as possible. There were some materials and tools lying around and they got to work with them very enthusiastically. They worked in three groups and that resulted in three completely different towers. We had deliberately not put glue on the table, but hammers and nails so that the structure could be disassembled at a certain point. The principle of circular construction.
What did they think of the virtual tour?
A little exciting at first but once they figured it out they thought it was mostly cool. They 'walked' through a house and could then see the stages in which it was built. First just the wood frame, then the stairs and bathroom in it, then the kitchen, etc. Through the VR glasses they could also see each other walking in the spaces, which they found very funny. Then they did a scavenger hunt in the Open Space app. They had to look for letters in different rooms. These eventually formed the word "girlpower.
Did they also meet BAM women?
Yes definitely! We were present with eight BAM women and had organized a kind of speed date. To get the girls started, we had made question cards, with, for example, What are you most proud of? And what makes your work fun for you? That way it became a little more personal. Because we did this in small groups, it was a little easier for the girls to really start a conversation. After this part, there was a joint closing with everyone involved that day.
Is there anything that particularly struck you? Something you heard or saw?
One of the girls told me that she actually wanted to go into healthcare to be able to do something for people. During the day she realized that what we do also means something to people, but in a different way. We build houses where people can live, and hospitals for people who need medical care. That was really an eye-opener for her.
Exactly that was the purpose of the day. We hope to have planted a seed in the girls. That they know, we can do this too. And not necessarily at BAM, but somewhere in engineering. It's a broad sector and it's important work.
You're a woman in construction yourself: what do you do?
I'm doing the BAM Graduate Program. That means I have four different positions/workplaces in two years to see what suits me and what I would like to do later on. BAM is a big company with lots of opportunities, think positions in procurement, strategy, finance and HR. I've just started my fourth period, which is with BAM at Schiphol Airport. In this role, I work on how we position BAM towards Schiphol, especially now that important tenders are coming up. I notice that I really enjoy the commercial game, seeing opportunities, making sharp choices and being convincing. This is also true because I studied technical management at TU Delft. That's not necessarily a construction study. The study is a mix of organizational subjects and technical subjects such as programming and analyzing data.
Why did you choose BAM?
I wanted to gain experience at a large Dutch company. I heard through the grapevine about a woman who was doing a traineeship at BAM. She was so enthusiastic that I thought: I'll just give it a try. During the job interviews I immediately clicked and to my great fortune I was hired. So far, I like it very much. The sector is still quite a man's world, and I found that exciting at first, although I was used to that at TU Delft. By now, about half of the trainees at BAM are women. There is also a women's network that organizes fun and interesting meetings. I've been to a couple of them and it was really cool.
Does BAM employ many women?
In management positions it is now about 30 percent. Overall, the proportion is lower, about 18 percent. What is positive is that that percentage has increased significantly over the past five years. That trend is likely to continue because a lot is being done to get women on board. Today more than ten thousand girls participated in Girls' Day. If 40 percent of them choose engineering (the VHTO aims for 40 percent women in engineering by 2040), it will be all right!
