Clearview National October 2019 - Issue 215 | Page 84

BUSINESSNEWS
What can construction companies
do to improve gender equality?
Gender inequality is a long-standing issue that has crept into every industry, and
construction is no different. Though many industries have a fairly even ratio of male
to female employees at entry level, there are almost always fewer women at the top.
» » A REPORT FROM THE DIRECTORY
for Social Change takes a comprehensive look at
how imbalanced the gender ratio is in the UK.
Using company CSR policies and annual reports,
the study was able to determine the gender
statistics for 399 corporate boards. An analysis
of the data shows that the overall percentage of
women on boards was around 22%.
Although small, this number is actually higher
than, it was in 2013, where similar reports found
that only 13% of board members were women.
However, of the remaining 78% of companies,
16% still confess to having purely male board
members - excluding women entirely.
Addressing gender inequality and calling for
more women in the workplace is more than just
trying to fill a quota, it could be the key to a
company’s success.
‘An analysis of the data
shows that the overall
percentage of women on
boards was around 22%’
GENDER INEQUALITY
IN CONSTRUCTION
Much like the tech, science and other
STEM industries, the construction industry
is still lacking in gender equality and is
dominated by men. In 2007, 12.1% of workers
in construction was represented by female
workers, whereas reports in 2016 showed that
statistic only increased slightly to 12.8%.
In fact, a more recent study in 2018 by
Wise found that the number of female
employees in construction numbered just
11%, meaning the industry could actually be
taking a step backwards.
Even in 2019 as a training provider, 3B
Training hasn’t seen a huge percentage of
women walk through the door for training
courses when compared to men. Of nearly
10,000 delegates we have booked on courses
so far, only 15% of those are women.
84 » OCT 2019 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
OVERLOOKING FEMALE TALENT
When looking closer at the causes of gender
imbalance in construction, a common issue
seems to be that female employees aren’t given
the same opportunities as their male coworkers.
Randstad interviewed 1,200 people who
experienced gender discrimination in the
construction industry, 60% of whom were
women. Of the women surveyed, three-quarters
say they feel overlooked for promotions because
of their gender, not their skills.
It’s not just progression where women feel
like they’re missing out, either. 8 in 10 women
surveyed have felt left out of social events and
conversations by their coworkers. This feeling
of exclusion risks creating a toxic culture of
bias throughout the industry.
WOMEN LEADERS IN
CONSTRUCTION
Due to the lower number of female workers
in construction in general, it’s unsurprising
to find that the industry is lacking in women
at an executive level or higher. Nearly half of
workers went so far as to say that they had
never worked with a female manager.
However, that doesn’t mean that the industry
would react badly to more female leaders.
In fact, Randstad’s study found that 93% of
construction workers felt that being managed
by a woman would have the same effect as a
male manager, or even improve things.
And, according to the data, they’d be right.
All 169 companies in the FTSE 350 with at
least one woman on their executive board saw
a higher return on capital than companies
with none.
Hiring from the top down is also a way to
create a more inclusive work environment
for women at all levels. By having a senior
female leader, it sends a message to other
female workers that progression is achievable.
Companies that opt for a woman as their chief
executive are, on average, likely to have more
than twice as many women on their executive
board than companies run by a man.
As an industry currently suffering from a
severe skills shortage, opening the door to
talented women in senior roles could be the
answer construction is looking for.
RAISING AWARENESS
When it comes to women in construction
being overlooked, unconscious bias and
ignorance play a huge part in the issue.
There are only six construction companies
in the UK that have an equal number of male
to female directors or are female-led. One of
those companies, Renishaw plc, has a board of
70% women and regularly runs engagement
programmes with schools, universities and the
government to help raise awareness of gender
imbalance and overcome stereotypes. If more
companies in construction follow suit, the
industry can knock down barriers that would
otherwise deter potential female candidates.
Multinational human resource consulting
firm Randstad has reached out to organisations
to find out how they are currently supporting
their female staff to help remove gender bias in
the workplace:
ADDRESSING THE PAY GAP
Due to the overwhelming male to female
ratio until now, the construction industry has
been guilty of a wide gender pay gap.
A recent survey conducted by RICS,
however, has found that the industry has
acted and is making strides to address the
issue. Whereas the construction industry had
a gender pay gap of 36% in 2018 (one of the
worst industries for pay disparity), it has since
narrowed to 20.43%.
Although this is a positive result for the
industry, more steps are needed before the
pay gap is a thing of the past. Nearly half of
construction companies not monitoring their
gender pay gaps, so it’s difficult to accurately
determine how well the industry is dealing
with the issue.
By properly analysing and understanding
exactly how men and women are paid, as well