Women are significantly underrepresented in leadership within facilities management (FM), and that gap impacts everyone. From workplace culture to restroom design, the absence of women’s perspectives has shaped environments that often overlook half the population. In this blog, I explore why FM has historically been challenging for women leaders, how these inequities show up in our built environments, and how initiatives like Women in FM (WIF) are creating pathways for change.
My research examining why women are severely underrepresented in FM leadership found the FM culture to be historically hostile to women. Too many of our female colleagues are quite familiar with this experience. For example, in spring 2021, a female colleague delivered a Ted Talk via Zoom describing her negative experiences in FM. The Zoom chat exploded as these experiences resonated with many of the female attendees: being dismissed for their knowledge and experiences, and the often-limited spaces to support working women and mothers.
As an illustration, women’s restrooms are often poorly equipped, and lactation facilities may not exist. One female colleague recounted a male colleague’s suggestion to remove designated lactation facilities on a project to cut cost, proposing that general conference rooms could the same purpose. This overlooked potential health risks and biohazards from exposure to human fluids.
The often-long lines to women restrooms in facilities like stadiums, theaters, airports, lecture halls are another case in point. Banks’ (1990) argues that the absence of women in FM leads to restroom design decisions that often ignore women’s needs. Interestingly, men’s restrooms are often spacious with more options than women’s, which partially explains the queue to the women’s restrooms.
Consider that standing in line takes away from productive time. Moore (2001) illuminates the seriousness of this problem, reporting that in the U.S. Capitol, the congressmen’s restrooms are next to the House Floor, while congresswomen must walk a distance away from the House Floor. Congressmen can easily go whenever. Congresswomen must plan their trips to avoid missing votes. Her finding illuminates yet another a form of discrimination aimed at excluding women from positions of power.
Related: Women in FM: Trends in the Workplace
The absence of women in FM leadership means the experiences of women are absent from decisions on how people, place and processes are integrated into our built environment. Stated another way, the experiences of half of the population are often not represented or included in decisions that impact them.
Facility management cannot fulfill its purpose of improving people’s quality of life if women are excluded in the decision-making process. We all indirectly bear the costs when the experiences of half of us are excluded.
In response to the experiences shared in the Ted Talk Zoom chat, we launched an initiative called Women in FM.
WIF aims to create a support system with tools and resources to help women succeed.
Women in FM’s four main objectives are to provide women with:
WIF attracts and retains women in FM leadership. Your commitment to this easily portable initiative will exponentially expand our ability to bring transformative change to facilities management that benefits EVERYONE.
Editor's note: Dr. Winnie Kwofie is a visionary and transformative leader in higher education FM. She has spent over two decades transforming how institutions plan, operate and sustain their campus environments. With a background in engineering and a deep understanding of the academic environment, she brings both precision and purpose to FM leadership. Her work to bring women into FM leadership has been recognized as best practice. A respected author and speaker, Winnie integrates her research work into the FM professional practice. She has received numerous awards, including her recent recognition as a Top Global FM Influencer.
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