While the construction industry has made progress toward addressing its long-standing diversity issue in recent times, there is still a long way to go to truly ensure opportunities are equal in a traditionally male-dominated industry.
To raise awareness of the lack of females in construction, CIOB1 (Chartered Institute of Building) has carried out new research that highlights the huge gender imbalance and looks at ways the industry can address this.
Why was the research carried out?
According to Rated People’s 2022 Home Improvement Trends Report, 11 of the 20 worst professions for the representation of women in the UK are within the trade industries.
Along with shining a light on the gender imbalance in construction, CIOB’s research also intends to serve as a way to encourage more women to consider a career in the sector, by highlighting the growing demand for their services, and the role women can have in combating the industry’s ongoing skills shortage.
CIOB also hosted an event in parliament with Emily Thornberry MP, in which they invited representatives from the North American campaign group, Tradeswomen Building Bridges, to share their experience of increasing female representation within key trades in the USA and Canada.
The key findings
Only 1% of UK tradespeople working in construction are women. In North America, this figure rises to 10% or more in a number of regions.
Despite the unlevel playing field, CIOB did find that 3 in 5 UK residents said they would hire a female to carry out work at their home, though 10% said they had tried with no success.
The report also found that around a third of respondents would prefer to hire a female tradesperson, though 12% still completely ruled it out.
Meanwhile, Rated People’s report detailed how 75% of homeowners who had hired a female tradesperson would rate their work 4 or 5 out of 5, in comparison to 57% for male tradespeople. The organisation also saw a positive trend in terms of female admissions to trade courses, with that number up by 27%.
What can be done to improve gender diversity?
According to Emily Thornberry MP, archaic stereotypes on site remain a hurdle, and more needs to be done at a government level to tackle these preconceptions.
She said: “In order to get more women in the industry, we must fight discrimination on sites and amongst employers, and stop perpetuating the stereotypes which divide up job roles according to gender. This will only happen if we place this issue higher up the political agenda and provide it with a greater focus.”
A lack of targeted education has proved to be another persistent problem. Rated People previously asked school-leavers if they would consider a career in the trades — those who said no explained how their reluctance initially stemmed from a lack of communication with females about careers in construction at the school and college levels. Concerns about personal safety when entering other people’s homes were also raised.
While there is clearly a long way to go, there are encouraging signs that outdated attitudes are beginning to shift. With more women entering construction training, and customers actively searching for female tradespeople, that shocking 1% figure should hopefully begin to rise sooner rather than later.
1 'UK crying out for female tradespeople says research by the Chartered Institute of Building' 17th June 2022, CIOB survey in June 2022.