The campaign

In 2016, the number of women directly employed in construction hit a 20-year high. But despite comprising over 50% of the UK population, women still make up only 11% of the construction workforce; this number drops to just 1% of operatives on site. At less than 10% of engineering professionals, the UK has the lowest proportion of female engineers in Europe. With the industry facing a skills shortage, it has never been more important to draw from a wider pool of talent.

This campaign seeks to increase understanding of the issue of women in construction, highlight the great work done so far to promote diversity, showcase female role models and offer guidance on how to further encourage women into the industry.

Why are there so few women in construction?

Lingering sexist attitudes in the workplace are off-putting for many women. A July 2017 survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) found that nearly one third of women in construction said a fear of sexism held them back from pursuing senior roles. A January 2017 survey reported in Building.co.uk found that a shocking 73% of female engineers have experienced sexual discrimination, harassment or victimisation at work.

In 2018, it was revealed in a survey that construction has the third highest rate of unwanted sexual attention in the workplace, just below the hospitality and retail industries. Casual sexism, such as patronising and belittling attitudes, is also damaging and can result in women feeling unwelcome.

Other reasons for female under-representation in the industry relate to working conditions. While there have been vast improvements in recent years, particularly in on-site facilities, some sites still do not provide separate and equal welfare facilities. A 2018 survey by Unite discovered that women share toilets with men on one in five construction sites.

Inflexible working hours can also deter women who have family commitments, contributing to the ‘leaky pipeline’ which sees women not return to the industry after having children.

The gender pay gap is an issue that must be addressed in every industry but it is particularly acute in construction. The Office of National Statistics reports that the national pay gap is 18.1%, but also found that male construction and building trades supervisors are paid 45% more than their female counterparts – this is the largest pay gap in the UK.

While there is certainly still room for improvement in the industry’s approach to diversity, it can sometimes be more an issue of image and perception which puts women off construction careers. People often perceive the industry as an all-male environment where the only jobs available involve manual labour.

A survey by housebuilder Redrow asked young people about the careers advice they received at school – just 29% of women had been given advice on construction careers compared to 40% of men. This leads to a lack of knowledge among young people about the variety of roles in the industry, encouraging the assumption that construction is a world of male builders and discouraging them from joining the industry.

Why does it matter?

Recruiting more women into the construction industry should not be just a tick-box exercise – it is essential to the long-term viability of the UK construction industry, especially given that the industry accounts for 6.5% of total economic output (House of Commons – Construction industry briefing paper, 2015).

The industry needs 35,000 new workers a year to tackle the skills shortage and this will not be filled by ignoring the talents of half of the population. Diversity is also an economic generator, driving innovation through collaboration and creative thinking. According to McKinsey & Company, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on their executive teams were 21% more likely to experience above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile.

What is the Scheme doing to encourage women into construction?

The Considerate Constructors Scheme has been leading the effort to improve the image of construction and make the industry accessible to all. In the Checklist used by Scheme Monitors to score registered sites during their visits, Question 5.1 asks ‘Does the site demonstrate a commitment to respect, fair treatment, encouragement and support?’ while question 5.8 asks ‘How is the site providing for the needs of a diverse workforce?’ These questions address issues such as inclusion, harassment, open door policies and separate welfare facilities.

The Scheme is making a big impact in promoting construction careers to young men and women through our industry mascot Honor Goodsite. Honor is a structural engineer and can be used by contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers to showcase the great career opportunities open to women in construction. Honor appeals to primary school children, tackling perceptions about construction at an early age.

Scheme survey results

In order to understand how these issues affect the industry, the Scheme issued an anonymous survey to all registered sites, companies and suppliers. Over 1000 men and women responded, and the following results were gathered:

The Scheme followed the survey with this ‘Spotlight on…’ campaign to provide information on the issue of women in construction.

Considerate Constructors Scheme Chief Executive Edward Hardy said:

“On behalf of the Scheme, I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the ‘Spotlight on…women in construction’ campaign. The Campaign provides a must-read set of resources for organisations and individuals who would like to improve their standards of considerate construction – with the aim of driving greater equality, diversity and inclusion throughout our industry.

“Not only is it imperative that standards must be raised in this area in order to help encourage more people into the industry, a more equal and diverse workforce also brings greater collaboration, creative thinking and more inclusive workplaces – which can only be a positive step in helping to improve the image of the UK and Irish construction industry.

“The Scheme continues to push construction sites to ensure that the reality of being on site is one which is welcoming and suitably-equipped with the necessary facilities for all. It is only through these practical steps that the construction industry can achieve true equality, diversity and inclusivity.”

While women are still under-represented in construction, the industry is making considerable progress in addressing diversity. The following sections highlight the steps taken by construction organisations and the Government, and showcase case studies of successful women across the industry. However, there is more to be done to improve gender diversity in construction and the conclusion offers advice on how to address these issues.

What can you do?

As we have seen, the construction industry is making important strides in addressing the gender imbalance. Diversity is increasingly embedded in company policy and the number of women working in construction is increasing.

Recruitment agency Randstad report that in 2005, 79% of female construction workers said their company was doing little to attract female workers; by 2015, this was down to 29%. Indeed, 79% of respondents to the Scheme survey agreed that in recent years the industry has improved its approach to encouraging women into construction.

However, the effort to achieve gender equality in construction is far from over. The industry is making progress on the issue but women still comprise only 11% of the construction workforce. The imbalance needs to be corrected due to the skills shortage, so what more can the industry do to contribute to this effort?

Embedding equality and diversity in recruitment

Embedding equality and diversity in recruitment will help increase the number of women working in construction and make the industry more inclusive. Organisations should consider the following points to address gender inequality in their workforce:

• Companies should have an Equality and Diversity policy which ensures the requirements of the Equality Act are implemented. This will involve providing equal and transparent recruitment, training and promotion prospects for men and women.
• Employers should be aware of how hiring policies can create barriers for women through unconscious bias, for example informal word of mouth recruitment/promotion and using traditionally masculine words like ‘strong’ in job descriptions.
• Encouraging returnships for older workers will address the ‘leaky pipeline’ which sees construction lose talented women who do not return to the industry after a career break.
• The issue should not sit in Human Resources but be closely monitored and incorporated into the business plan through Key Performance Indicators making diversity a top priority.

Improving the image of the industry

To attract both women and men to construction careers requires changing perceptions to show that construction is a professional industry with a wide range of interesting and lucrative jobs available. When conducting recruitment drives and youth outreach the following points should be emphasised:

• Most people associate construction work with hard manual labour. It should be advertised that, especially with the rise of technology such as Building Information Modelling, construction is about project management, leadership, creativity, organisation, communication and teamwork. Resources such as WISE’s ‘People like Me’ pack can assist contractors in highlighting this to young people.
• The industry must showcase that construction can be a highly paid, highly skilled industry to work in. Careers in Construction records the average Site Manager salary as £60,000 in London, £50,000 in the South East and £37,000 nationally.

Encouraging a change in culture

While the situation has improved for many women in construction, there are some construction sites in the UK which continue to be hostile to female workers and members of the public. As long as this remains the case, many women will be discouraged from joining the industry. There are steps that sites can take to tackle sexism and encourage a more inclusive workplace culture:

• All sites must have a zero tolerance policy on sexism and harassment and have an open door policy to encourage all workers to report inappropriate behaviour. Some sites have introduced telephone hotlines for workers to report bullying and harassment.
• Site induction and toolbox talks should cover equality, diversity and inclusion to ensure all workers are treated with fairness, inclusion and respect. The Supply Chain Sustainability School provides free training videos on these subjects; see the ‘External resources’ section for details.
• Companies could work with women’s organisations to organise training for their workforce in recognising and eliminating casual sexism and unconscious bias.
• Establishing company support networks for women to share their experiences will help to break the isolation that many women in construction face.

Improving working conditions

The working conditions in construction have improved dramatically in recent years, but there are further ways to promote equality through fairer working conditions and modern facilities. Measures that sites could consider include:

• Ensuring that all sites have separate and equal welfare facilities for men and women.
• Providing appropriate PPE for women, securing their safety and comfort on site.
• Ensuring men and women receive equal pay for equal work while also monitoring and working to close the gender pay gap by encouraging more women in senior positions.
• Introducing flexible working hours to accommodate those with family commitments. Flexibility benefits working fathers, older workers and those with disabilities, helping to increase diversity across the board.

Promoting female role models

Women currently working in construction should openly discuss their careers with children and adults to change perceptions of the industry and break down stereotypes. The following points will help organisations effectively promote female role models:

• Successful women in the industry should be identified in promotional literature and encouraged to speak in schools and colleges to show the future generation that the industry is diverse and inclusive.
• Rewarding female role models, for example through the annual Women in Construction awards, helps raise the profile of leading women in the industry and shows that women do excel by having a career within construction.
• More women in senior leadership positions within construction companies and other organisations will help to inspire women already in the industry to aim high and seek promotion.

Working with schools and colleges

Many preconceptions about construction are formed at a very early age. Contractors are already doing great work through school outreach programmes, but this could be translated into more formal links between the industry and schools and colleges. The following factors should be considered when working with schools and colleges:

• Careers advisers, teachers and parents need to be given a better insight into the industry to enable them to pass on accurate and useful advice to young people considering a career in construction. This will ensure construction is portrayed positively and not as a ‘last resort’ for non-academic students or a profession only suited to men.
• Work experience, taster days and site visits will help challenge preconceptions about construction by showing young people that the industry is an exciting and interesting place to work.
• Apprenticeships are vital ways of providing young people interested in construction with opportunities to develop their skills. The industry should work with schools and colleges to identify students who could benefit from such training.
• When appealing to a younger audience, contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers could use the Scheme’s Honor Goodsite character as an example of a female engineer to show that women can have rewarding careers in construction.

The industry is making great progress in encouraging more women to pursue construction careers, but more can be done to increase gender diversity. By continuing to work together to tackle perceptions and change industry practices, construction will become a truly inclusive industry.

As well as the information above, it is also advised to use the resources provided in the ‘External resources’ section of this campaign which identifies information from other organisations and companies.

Date published: September 18 2017
Last updated: March 6 2018