A few good women

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Kathy Cusack, planning & design manager, Waterfront.

From your perspective, are there additional challenges for women working in what is traditionally a male-dominated field?

Kolinac: I find that women are fairly well-accepted in this industry in the UAE. There are still a limited number of women in senior positions here, but there seem to be more in the UAE than anywhere else in the world.

I don't have any problems here. I think women are respected for the contributions they're making.

Cusack: It's not so much a challenge as an observation. Where I came from in Australia, my CEO was a woman, as was the political leader, the Lord Mayor of Sydney.

There were a lot of women in positions like that and it wasn't something to bat an eyelid at.

Then, when I came here, it was a bit of a shock to be in such a minority as women in the Waterfront office. It was very different from what I'd been used to.

However, within the last six months we've added a lot of women to our office. I think it's a good thing.

I think it creates a very balanced workplace. Men and women think differently and both can contribute different and valid input to any problems.

Why do you think there remains such a disparity between numbers of men and women working in this field?

Cusack: That's a really good question. I know when I was studying urban planning, ours was the first year that there was an even balance between men and women.

I don't know for sure but I think there is an old-fashioned perception that development is a man's work and that construction sites are no place for a woman.

I do think it's changing. [The workplace] is more balanced but there is still a bit of a perception issue about girls on construction sites.

Kolinac: It's interesting. It seems that the Arabic culture accepts women in business-related fields more readily than what I'm used to.

The style of business here is not as foreign to me as it might be to a male who approaches a problem with a much different thinking pattern.

Do you think it's possible that some women are intimidated by what is perceived as a male-dominated industry?

Kolinac: I think it's possible. I've never found it intimidating but there is the occasional shock of being very obviously in the minority.

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