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Home > Key Discipline Specific & Educational > Women in the built environment sector Women in the Built Environment SectorIntroductionWomen make up only 10% of the workforce within the built environment sector [1]. The Equal Opportunities Commission has criticised the sector as a 'no-go' area for women as retention and progression for women in this sector is abysmally low. In spite of the widespread implementation of equality guidelines in the workplace, full gender equality in our work communities remains elusive. The workforce continues to be highly segmented according to sex, and the UK has one of the highest levels of gender segregation in the European Union (Rubery and Fagan, 1995). The under-utilisation of human resources dependent on gender patterns is of economic and social concern, especially for an economy with an ageing workforce. The City & Guilds predicted that by 2020, 22% of the population will be working well into their sixties – more than double the present number based on the Labour Force Survey statistics combined with the Government and Pension Commission's warnings on who will be affected by the pensions crisis [2]. Occupational segregation is damaging the UK’s competitiveness by contributing to the gender pay gap and preventing it from benefiting from the talents of a balanced workforce. Women’s lack of representation, both in the sector and at senior levels in the built environment sector is unambiguous. Both vertical segregation, (where opportunities for career progression within an industry or sector for a particular gender are narrowed) and horizontal segregation (where workforce of a particular industry or sector is mostly made up of one particular gender) contribute to gender inequalities. An increase in women undertaking undergraduate and postgraduate studies has not contributed to an increase in women working in the industry. This is the concept of the ‘leaky pipeline’- a critical response to the ‘pipeline’ theory, which argues that the more women you put in at one end, the more you will get at the other end. Recruitment by itself is not the key to increasing women in the built environment workforce. Recruitment must be followed by good progression and improved levels of retention for employees. Job satisfaction as a result of better opportunities in flexible working, social networking, and mentoring is more likely to retain more women. The construction skills network report 'Blueprint for UK construction 2006-2010'
forecasts that 348,000 more employees will be needed for the construction industry
by 2010 to meet expected demand - an average of 87,000 new recruits per year
[3]. There is currently a shortage of skilled workers in the following areas:
building services engineering, transportation and highways engineering, ground
engineering, contaminated land specialists and chartered quantity surveyors
[4]. The industry cannot afford a skills shortage at such a time. The Equal
Opportunities Commission (EOC) enquiry into the segregation of men and women
in training and work, established a strong correlation between sector-specific
skills shortages and the under-representation of women. Under-representation
of women in sectors experiencing skills shortages is exacerbating these shortages.
The EOC says breaking gender barriers will help solve skill shortages (EOC,
2004) and assist in utilising the existing under-utilised pool of women in this
sector. _____________________________ [1] Source: National Association of Women in Construction http://www.nawic.co.uk/
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