Currently the UK construction sector is second only to the gas and petrochemical industry for its lack of diversity. Whilst different statistical sources vary slightly on the exact figure, they agree that the numbers in relation to diversity remain low, so low in fact that the law enables us to use positive action to counteract the negative effects of such an unrepresented workforce.
To fully understand each of the minority groups we shall split them up into their protected characteristics and consider not just their overall representation but also how this is reflected in the roles that they hold and their retention rate.
Before we do though it should be explained that there are a number of protected characteristics, nine in fact now that the new equality act has come into play, that cannot be discriminated against. These are Age, disability, Gender Reassignment, Marriage and Civil Partnership, Pregnancy and maternity, Race, Religion or belief, Sex, Sexual orientation.
Let’s consider each of them within the context of the built environment examining just some of the key points.
Age – Research has found that in construction those under 35 are often considered too young whilst those who have not achieved a senior level by 45 can be considered too old. It is widely noted that those over 50 seeking work have greater difficulty in obtaining it and whilst the perception is that this age range is inflexible and rigid the evidence proves otherwise finding them to be the most versatile group.
Age can also be effected indirectly, for example the average age for a woman to enter the construction industry is 26, whilst most traineeships and apprentices are catering for the 16-19 group meaning there are less opportunities from an age perspective.
With an ageing population we need to be sure as an industry that we are not adding to the already looming skills shortage, for example one third of RICS members are aged 55 and over, if we are opting not to employ those that are made redundant we may have difficulty recruiting once the recession ends and we are again looking for people, without a solid skill base to pass on information we may add to the already existing skills shortage.
Disability – This is an area that can get tricky due to a common tendency to consider disability as a stereotypical form e.g. wheelchair users, blindness etc. In fact disability is a wide spectrum that includes mental health, dyslexia and back problems. In face the government definition is
“In the Act, a person has a disability if:
· they have a physical or mental impairment
· the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to perform normal day-to-day activities
For the purposes of the Act, these words have the following meanings:
· 'substantial' means more than minor or trivial
· 'long-term' means that the effect of the impairment has lasted or is likely to last for at least twelve months (there are special rules covering recurring or fluctuating conditions)
· 'normal day-to-day activities' include everyday things like eating, washing, walking and going shopping
People who have had a disability in the past that meets this definition are also protected by the Act. “ Direct Government Websitehttp://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/RightsAndObligations/DisabilityRights/DG_4001068
We know that 14% of employees in the construction industry consider themselves disabled in some way this is compared with 19% of the total working age population. I would be interested in understanding this statistics a little more. For example what percentage of these disabilities are brought about by the industry themselves? In 2009 construction as an industry employed 4% of the UK workforce, yet it was responsible for 12% of reported non fatal accidents. As the most dangerous major sector for both fatalities and not fatal injuries I believe his is a serious point that may be masking issues in our recruitment procedures.
Marriage and Civil Partnership, Another new protected characteristic, and a welcome one at that as something was needed to improve upon exiting regulation and protect the new civil partnerships. I doubt this will have much impact on construction as an industry as those with civil partnerships are still not likely to inform their employers hopefully this legislation help change that in time.
Pregnancy and maternity, with only a small representation of women in industry (see gender) and this being a new characteristic there is little data on this area at he moment.
Race, The current proportion of non white ethnic minorities currently working in the UK construction industry is 3.3% that compares with 7.9% of the working population. What’s more interesting here is the distribution of that 3.3% which would seem significantly dependent upon geographical distribution. For example Norfolk only has 15 non white construction trainees compared with Oldhams 12%. It is important then that we consider these numbers in context what is reflective in one area may well be underachieving in another. Overall the national average of non white ethnic minorities represented in the professions vary at the lowest managers have only 1.5% representation and QS’s 2.8%. Architectural technologists and Civil engineers on the other hand fair better with 5.5%. There is also evidence that the number Black Minority Ethnics (BME) in training is increasing though this rise has not be transferred over to the workplace, again retention would appear to be a key in raising diversity levels. There is little to go on to record what representation there is in the trades but overall it would appear that there is a higher proportion of BME representation in low skilled roles such as security guards, it should also be noted that overall here is a lack of representation in senior posts.
Religion or belief, Currently none of the Institutes monitor religion or belief so to gain a picture regarding the makeup of industry is very difficult to do. This is another area that requires more work.
Sex, The construction industry is a male dominated industry, in fact only 13% of the industry is made up of women. That statistic can then be broken down into the roles those women play where we find the 83% of women working in construction work in administarial roles with 13% in design and management 3% self employed and less than 1% in the trades. The picture doesn’t brighten when we look up the majority of construction boards are not represented by women outside of the traditional areas such as marketing, HR and Finance. So with more and more women entering themselves on construction courses every year it really is time organisations considered where they are all going. Countless papers have agreed on the leaky pipe syndrome that women leave the industry disproportionately throughout their careers, the most common reason behind this being workplace culture and covert discrimination.
Sexual orientation, This is another area that has not been monitored and therefore there is very little research in construction specifically, but general research across the workforce finds two thirds of homosexual and bisexual people face discrimination in the workplace.
Socio Economic Disadvantage This area has been introduced as a an area for public authorities to consider when drawing up their strategies. It does not currently have an implication on the private workforce.
Of course this small area alone is complex and I would love to hear you views opinions, thoughts, experiences and even research. If you want further reading everything we have talked about can be found in our research page.
Look forward to next month’s blog when we look at the differing cases for working on diversity.
Till next month take care,
Chrissi x
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