Women now fill 11.7 per cent of jobs in the Australian construction industry, but the National Association of Women in Construction says there should be many more in leadership roles.

Construction is now widely-accepted as a legitimate career option for females, which has not been the case in the past. The advocacy group now says women need to be able to climb the ladder to access better roles in leadership too.

Construction is Australia's third largest employing industry, comprising 8.8 per cent of the workforce, or 1,016,000 people. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show a 20 per cent increase in the number of female technicians and trade workers nationwide since 1996. Women are drastically under-represented in construction leadership roles though, in spite of despite the number of female directors of ASX200 companies almost doubling to 15.6 per cent in the next nine years.

Felicity Briody, a consultant engineer with support service conglomerate AECOM, founded the Power in Engineering program, which encourages high school students of any gender to pursue careers in engineering. Ms Briody says there should be now bounds for females in any industry, that those who want to aim high should be confident enough to ask questions and follow whichever path they choose.