"Just don’t go on site," was one of the comments an Ipswich businesswoman heard while fulfilling her dream to work in a male-dominated field.
Pippa Jacob is the third Ipswich businesswoman shortlisted for the Top 100 Influential Women in Construction award in the Influential Designer category.
Two others are Clare Friel and Helen Clements.
Miss Friel, director of Friel and co-founder of Construction Anglia, has been nominated in Ally and Hero Eastern categories for the second year in a row, after winning the Eastern region Unsung Hero category award last year.
Ms Jacob, who is currently on maternity leave for her second child, proudly works alongside her dad at Nicholas Jacob Architects.
She said: "I am so excited to have received this nomination relating to the work I am doing about maternity and shared parental leave within architecture.
"The thing I am most proud of is that the RIBA have included a question in this year's Benchmarking Survey, which is 'do you offer your staff anything other than statutory maternity/shared parental leave?' as this data has never been investigated.
"This nomination really feels like the icing on the cake of a two-year campaign to provide support for new parents in the profession."
Ms Jacob added that architecture and construction industries are still heavily male-dominated, and as a result, it can, at times, be "a toxic environment to work in" for women.
She added: "It is changing, but the change is slow.
"At one of the firms I did a placement at, a sexist comment was made to me on site.
"Back at the office, I asked what advice the practice would give in those situations, and the response from the director was 'just don’t go on site'.
"It’s safe to say, due to our mis-aligning values, I didn’t stay in that practice for long."
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