黑洞社区

Fostering a culture of transparency, flexibility and dialogue within companies is vital if the construction industry is to achieve gender equality: that was the consensus of a panel discussion that took place on 22 February in the City of London鈥檚 Aldgate Tower.

Held in association with Aecom, the discussion 鈥� titled 鈥淐losing the Gap鈥� 鈥� brought together leading figures from contracting, consultancy, law and architecture, with 黑洞社区鈥檚 deputy editor Chlo毛 McCulloch as chair. The speakers touched upon the impending 4 April gender pay reporting deadline, but went beyond the immediate potential for the revelations to cause embarrassment, delving instead into how companies could maintain the current momentum around the issue of equality and diversity in construction.

鈥淸Change] starts at the top of the organisation, with leaders who are prepared to say, 鈥榯his is important to our business and culture鈥欌��

Lara Poloni, Aecom

Equality

Aecom EMIA chief executive Lara Poloni said gender equality was important because 鈥渋t鈥檚 the right thing to do鈥� but also because 鈥渢here is overwhelming evidence [of its advantages] from a business productivity point of view鈥�. But she acknowledged the challenges. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all well and good for an organisation to have a glossy brochure that lays out their diversity and inclusion strategy, but [tackling this problem] takes a lot of commitment to being transparent, as well as time and money.鈥� In striving for gender pay equity in Aecom鈥檚 Australia division, she said, the company spent AUS$5m (拢2.8m) over two years, and it is looking to similar measures in the UK. 鈥淏ut what that [initiative] meant, particularly to female staff and in terms of our employment brand, was immeasurable,鈥� Poloni added.

She said, however, that 鈥� beyond money 鈥� addressing the issue of gender equality issue required human commitment. 鈥淸This kind of change] starts at the top of the organisation, with leaders who are prepared to say, 鈥榯his is important to our business and culture鈥�, then there [need to be] conversations with staff about what you鈥檙e going to do about it.鈥� Aecom has recently established a diversity and inclusion committee, comprising people from all levels and divisions in the company, to help achieve this.

The reality, however, is that the industry is still predominately male 鈥� especially at its highest levels 鈥� so bringing about change will mean involving men in the conversation. Theresa Mohammed, partner in law firm Trowers & Hamlins and chair of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWC), pointed to the women鈥檚 networking group Chicks with Bricks as an example of how some organisations are doing this 鈥� it insists on men making up 12% of attendees at its events, asking their women to bring male colleagues along.

鈥淢y challenge to people is to create a collegiate, supportive network鈥�

Huda As鈥檃d, EY

Support

Meanwhile, Huda As鈥檃d, director at consultant EY, said that women needed to ensure they supported each other in the workplace, referring to the phenomenon of powerful women 鈥減ulling up the ladder鈥� behind them. 鈥淢y personal experience from when I worked on construction sites was that women were not always the best advocates of other women. My challenge to people is to create a collegiate, supportive network.鈥� As a senior person in the company, she said she feels has 鈥渁 duty to unpick blockers for other women who come in my path and regularly intervene鈥�. 

Caroline Buckingham, RIBA vice president and former director at architecture practice HLM, agreed on the need for senior figures to provide support for other women鈥檚 career development, noting that the RIBA has offered guidance to architectural practices on how to establish a mentoring programme. 鈥淨uite a few women find it difficult to ask for more money, to be promoted or to make a point 鈥� you鈥檝e got to help provide those softer skills,鈥� she said. But she also observed the importance of not placing the burden of change too heavily on the shoulders of women. 鈥淚 was made a director in a large practice when I was relatively young and remember being told [by the other board members] that I needed to be more assertive and bang the table to get my point across,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not my style 鈥� it took a few years for them to accept that.鈥� 

鈥淲e do innovate and women are doing brilliant things, but we don鈥檛 market that well enough鈥�

Theresa Mohammed, Trowers & Hamlins

Buckingham said this was part of a wider culture in the construction industry that could be unfriendly to female employees. Family commitments, for example, can be perceived as a distraction from professional duties 鈥� and these responsibility still fall disproportionately on women. This is often noticeable 鈥渨hen you鈥檙e not around in the office or going drinking after work, and need to get back to the kids鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been in situations where people don鈥檛 even want to talk about their children in the office.鈥� She pointed to the importance of conversation to help break these taboos, rather than simply expecting people鈥檚 circumstances to change. 鈥淲e shouldn鈥檛 be embarrassed to say that some of us want to have kids 鈥� let鈥檚 talk about it and work around that.鈥� 

Flexibility

Buckingham said flexible working policies were vital to helping people accommodate work and personal tasks. 鈥淭here is a perception we need to overcome that achievement should be measured by time, rather than output. I don鈥檛 care when and where you do [your work], as long as it is delivered. Productivity is so much better as a result and there is a respect and trust.鈥�

At Aecom, Poloni said, workplace flexibility is increasingly becoming a topic of conversation across the board.  鈥淚鈥檓 seeing more men talking about their desires to share in parenting and more people talking about their carer鈥檚 obligations. Flexibility strategies are not just for women or for the younger demographic 鈥� [the industry has a] skills gaps, so we should be doing more to encourage men and women to work longer and work flexibly as they transition into retirement, so there is continuity in experience and knowledge. We have a very simple mantra on workplace flexibility: if it works for you and your clients, we will work it out.鈥� She did add, however, that strategies specifically targeting women still have a place 鈥� for example, analyses to ensure that pay gaps don鈥檛 emerge when women take breaks from their careers to have or look after children or when new people are hired.

Perception

The difficulty of recruiting women to the industry was another topic of conversation 鈥� a problem that As鈥檃d recognised as starting as far back as when children encounter gender stereotypes about what jobs men and women should do. Mohammed acknowledged that the industry had problems attracting women, but argued that it was, in many ways, down to its image rather than the reality of the working conditions. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a perception that construction is [just] manual trades or something you do if you can鈥檛 do anything else,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was disappointed to see how critical the recent Farmer report was of the construction industry 鈥� I think we do innovate and women are doing brilliant things, but we don鈥檛 market that well enough. Communicating how innovative we are is a real problem in construction.鈥� 

She mentioned some of the campaigns that the NAWC is doing to confront these perceptions. 鈥淥ne of our drives is to tell the real story of what women do on site, be that driving cranes, abseiling off construction sites, leading design teams, project management, lawyering,鈥� Another is an online photo project that links women in different roles to their educational background and work experience. 鈥淭he idea is for it to become an educational tool for possible entrants into construction that illustrates the breadth of roles and opportunities out there, and shows there are people doing exactly what you want to do.鈥� Mohammed also emphasised the importance of showcasing young talent, not just senior leaders, on company websites and social media, 鈥渟o people looking into construction can see someone within a few years of their age doing something they may fancy doing or give them the idea鈥�.

鈥淚 hope I鈥檓 sitting here one day and don鈥檛 need to talk about gender and equality at all鈥�

Caroline Buckingham, RIBA

Targets

There were some mixed feelings among the panellists about pushing up female representation through compulsory goals. Both EY and Aecom had said they set targets to increase women at senior and entry levels. Poloni said: 鈥淚鈥檓 not a fan of quotas as such, but it鈥檚 important to set yourself targets 鈥� for a strategy to succeed you鈥檝e got to have something you鈥檙e aiming for and that you keep yourself accountable to.鈥� 

In reference to the relative lack of female graduates in STEM subjects, she added: 鈥淵ou may say, 鈥榠t鈥檚 really easy [to recruit an equal number of women]鈥�, but it鈥檚 actually really hard for an organisation like ours, which is built up on multiple layers of engineers.鈥� She suggested that addressing this problem involved starting recruitment efforts much earlier 鈥� at undergraduate level. Beyond that, Aecom has committed this year to removing gender identification in job applicants鈥� CVs, to help prevent unconscious bias against women in the hiring process.

Buckingham is not persuaded by the idea of strict targets: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe that we will all naturally end up with 50/50 [gender balance] 鈥� it鈥檚 not how the world works.鈥� In an ideal world, she said, everyone in the construction industry would be given 鈥渆qual opportunities, so we all have the same fair chance鈥�, with the recognition that different people may well have different career trajectories. 鈥淚 hope I鈥檓 sitting here one day and don鈥檛 need to talk about gender and equality at all,鈥� she added. Pointing to a pregnant women in the audience, she said: 鈥淚 hope that, for your child, it鈥檚 not even on the agenda.鈥�