Diversity can apply to any industry, from Hollywood to Engineering and Constructions (see our Build Diversity initiative). Most of it deals with the male and female split, however, it leads on to the BAME communities (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) too, and also to people with disabilities.
12.8% of the construction workforce is made up of women
As a recruiting specialist, we noticed in our everyday work at Marton Recruitment that the majority of our applicants for Engineering or Construction jobs are mainly male. There is an increasing number of female applicants, but it doesn’t seem to be enough.
From the Stace Next Gen Index 2019 we found out that although there is a greater push on diversity and inclusion, female professionals currently make up almost 13% of the Construction industry, and 4% of the workforce are from a BAME background (compared with a higher incidence of 10% in the UK population as a whole).
Just 12.8% of the construction workforce is made up of women, and no more than 1% of employees working on-site are women (Willmott Dixon, 2018). The RICS 2016–17 annual review showed the breakdown of representation in the profession as 14% female, 1.2% black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) and 0.6% with a disability.
The Stace Next Gen Index 2019 revealed that the barriers to Construction are increased for both female and BAME respondents. 30% of females and 24% of males feel discouraged by their parents/guardians in following a career in Construction. And, sadly, up to 41% of the BAME respondents are discouraged to follow a career in the Construction Industry.
Diversity delivers better performance
Did you know inclusive teams make better decisions 87% of the time? And decisions executed by diverse teams deliver 60% better results. According to Cloverpop. Inclusive teams make decisions twice as fast with half the meetings.
Having a workforce comprised of people from different backgrounds, life experiences, cultural understandings and skills can benefit your company by way of having a deeper understanding of your potential customers, better representation of them and being able to reach a wider target audience. You’ll also benefit from a more innovative and creative environment.
An implemented policy on diversity & inclusion is a solid asset
People care about whether your company has a diversity policy and better still, whether it actually acts on it. According to PWC Global Diversity, this is what diverse workforces are looking for:
- 85% of female millennials said employer policy on diversity and workforce inclusion was important.
- 71% feel that while organisations talk about diversity, opportunities are not really equal for all.
Here are 10 ways to promote gender diversity when hiring.