#13 Building The Future – Women in “Men’s” Jobs

What are women’s experiences in professions that were considered a classic male domain just a few years ago? Especially when they are in a managerial position?

For our podcast, we talked to three female colleagues about this important topic. Angelika Schmid heads one of the largest teams at Werner Sobek . With Stuttgart21, she is also responsible for one of our largest projects. Dr Stefanie Weidner is responsible for the company’s sustainability strategies. She has headed our new office in Copenhagen since the beginning of 2022. Lara Katscher recently moved from our Frankfurt office to Stuttgart to take over the management of Werner Sobek Green Technologies.

Three very different paths in life and areas of responsibility, but they also have a lot in common.

Change in Classic Role Models also in Building Industry

Angelika Schmid reports that the proportion of men was relatively high during her civil engineering studies – and notes that this is still the case in her professional life. The mother of a barely ten-year-old son was only able to realise her dreams because her husband was willing to step back for his part. In Stefanie Weidner’s architecture studies, the proportion of women was significantly higher; however, leading positions in architecture are still largely a male domain, regrets the head of our Copenhagen office. Lara Katscher emphasises that the change in classic role models is fortunately also taking place in the building industry. Slower than desired, but still noticeable.

Our colleagues recommend that female newcomers to the profession decide for themselves which path they want to take – and then, if possible, not to let themselves be diverted from it!

Listen here on SoundCloud.