Over half of built environment professionals surveyed by CareerStructure.com stated that less than 10% of their team are female, suggesting the industry has a long way to go before proving its credentials in equality.
The concern of professionals is so great that more than half of them believe that a quota should be introduced (56%), to ensure that companies within the industry have to employ a certain number of women in their workforce. The use of quotas is reinforced by extensive research into gender imbalanced teams, which reinforced the importance of having a diverse work force of both men and women.
The measure of a quota would also help address the shortfalls in female talent, which professionals said they found most with the oil, power and gas sectors (28%). Other key areas with a perceived lack of women were engineering (17%), and building services (17%). CareerStructure.com has seen growth in job postings across the board; however, exceptional growth has been seen within the oil and gas sector, with postings increasing 71% in the six months to November 2012[1]. The perceived lack of women within an industry showing such growth is a cause for concern, and steps need to be taken in order to ensure women don’t miss out on the opportunities presented by the sector.
Professionals demonstrated their concern over the lack of women in construction, with almost two thirds stating that they did not feel enough women were working within the construction, engineering and built environment industries (65%). A surprising 26% saw no barrier to entry for women looking at construction however, suggesting the reason for the low numbers may not be related to a specific issue.
Professionals did believe the industry could be attracting greater numbers of women through several propositions. These included greater support from management (32%), recognition of female talent in the industry (37%), and greater introductions to the career at an early stage of career decision making (36%). Ideas surrounding the recognition of female talent have been assisted by numerous award ceremonies, created to celebrate achievement, and to promote opportunities within the industry to potential new talent.
Rob Searle, Commercial Director, CareerStructure.com stated: “Despite industry professionals’ uncertainly over a perceived shortfall in female employees, ensuring that they continue to promote themselves to women. Events such as the ‘Women In Construction Awards’ help to ensure that existing talent within the industry is recognised, and it is now the overall industry’s responsibility to build upon their success and encourage more females into construction roles”.
