I’m sure it’s no surprise to you that the construction industry fares poorly in gender and diversity data when ranked with other industries such as Finance, Consulting and Technology. The construction industry is one that has so much to offer, and yet it’s being seemingly left behind in the midst of a digital boom.
Women only make up 12.5% of the industry while BAME individuals make up 5.4% according to an article from GMB Union in 2019; these figures are shocking low to what you might expect – but then how other industries have managed to move forward around the topic of inclusivity?
Shunted Growth?
Unfortunately, many people do not realise that jobs in construction do not necessarily have to be engineering based and there are plenty of other roles in departments such as IT, Finance, and HR. The lack of awareness of the industry’s numerous opportunities has resulted in an enormous amount of talent being lost to other industries which has contributed to the lack of growth in the construction industry.
There simply isn’t enough work being done to promote construction and showcase how interesting and impressive the industry is. Those of us already in the industry know that the potential for construction to overtake the technology industry is huge but first more needs to be done to showcase opportunities, raise awareness of the latest innovations and increase digital footprints.
Making a Change
Gement raises awareness of careers in the construction industry whilst increasing the diversity of women and BAME individuals in the industry, demonstrating that the construction industry employs people from all walks of life. We host a variety of events for students, graduates and experienced professionals including interactive workshops, insight days, and longer programmes such as summer internships, year in industry placements, and graduate schemes.
Matthew Watts, Student Engagement Officer at Sheffield University said ‘Gement’s construction initiatives to get more students, particularly women and BAME into construction are very impressive. I like the structured approach, with webinars opening doors to essential employable experience as well as the development of new skills.’
The programmes we offer are designed for students of different interest levels of a career in the construction industry. 60-minute interactive workshops are designed to pique the interest of the listener into learning further about the construction industry, what opportunities are available and where these opportunities are, whilst insight days offer a more personal experience into one of our partner organisations. Longer programmes give individuals direct access to a specific career in construction.
Through our programmes, the number of jobs applied for in the construction industry has increased by 128% but we know what we do isn’t enough, which is why later this year we plan to unveil diversity programmes to help make businesses in construction more inclusive for all.
