Doris Cheng is one of the few but growing number of women working on construction sites, monitoring building quality to make sure that work stays safe and on schedule and acting as a mediator between contractors and co-workers.

Her role as assistant supervisor entails regularly checking all the different aspects of a project against the blueprints she carries around, with a tape measure in her pocket. She also helps defray tension, saying: "The fact that I'm a woman probably makes the contract supervisors and my colleagues temper their behaviour with me. They are more willing to listen when I ask for something, so this is an advantage for us I suppose." There are always challenges, but Doris remains positive: "It feels awesome when you discover a problem and then put things back on track!"

Doris likes scuba diving outside work and recently took up rugby. She says: "The game requires a lot on teamwork, as you can easily miss points if someone on the team gets distracted even for a moment. The same applies to work; colleagues have to help and fill in for each other to get things done."