黑洞社区

Construction industry leaders from across the sector have urged employers to do more to promote and encourage women into the industry and into leadership positions, at a panel debate hosted by 黑洞社区, writes Iain Withers.

The debate featured panellists Holly Porter (pictured), founding director of Surface to Air Architects and founder of the Chicks with Bricks networking group; Peter Flint, head of Aecom鈥檚 buildings and places division; James Wates, chair of contractor Wates Group and construction skills body the CITB, and Hilary Satchwell, director at Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design.

Porter said the industry must do more to promote female role models, and put a greater emphasis on 鈥渞einforcement of success and engagement in the industry鈥� for women and 鈥減rofile building and PR鈥�.

Porter said she founded the Chicks with Bricks networking group in 2005 to help promote female role models: 鈥淚 was looking for role models for where I wanted to be in 20 to 30 years鈥� time and I couldn鈥檛 find anyone. The [Chicks with Bricks] network is about finding those role models.鈥�

Flint said there was a clear business case for promoting more women leaders in construction and cited research by US analyst Quantopian that found Fortune 1000 companies led by women produced three times better share returns on the US stock exchange than male-led firms over a 12-year period.

Flint said UK professional firms needed to break down the barriers hampering women鈥檚 career progression. He pointed out that male and female graduates tend to progress equally 鈥渦ntil they become chartered, and then it goes very differently [in favour of men]鈥�.

Flint said Aecom had a number of inclusion and diversity programmes designed to help tackle the problem. He added: 鈥淎s an industry we鈥檝e really got to take this seriously.鈥�

If every time a woman is challenging they are belittled, we are not going to move forward

Hilary Satchwell, Tibbalds

Satchwell said Tibbalds was one of the UK鈥檚 fastest-growing female-led firms, and is led by an all-female board. She said the diversity challenge at the firm was the reverse of the norm: 鈥淲e have to keep an eye on how many men are in the company.鈥�

Satchwell cited cultural problems in construction for holding women back: 鈥淚f every time a woman is challenging they are belittled, then we are not going to move forward.鈥�

Wates said he was encouraged that his family鈥檚 Wates contracting business employs 20% women - above the 12% average for the industry - while the CITB鈥檚 board is majority comprised of women, seven to four, but said both organisations could do more.

Wates said Build UK - the contracting trade association set to launch in September through the merger of the UK Contractors Group and National Specialist Contractors Council, which he will co-chair - will 鈥渃ontinue to drive forward鈥� recruitment of women in construction under chief executive Suzannah Nichol.

The debate, which was held in partnership with Aecom, was hosted at 黑洞社区鈥檚 offices in 240 Blackfriars tower near London鈥檚 South Bank, and chaired by 黑洞社区 editor Sarah Richardson. The debate forms part of our 黑洞社区 a Better Balance campaign.