|
contents | events | |||||||||
| Public calls for more British women to build cities Nine out of ten adults in Britain (88 per cent) think more women should be involved in building our towns and cities, according to new research, published today, by multinational design and engineering consultancy, Atkins. The research coincides with the two-year anniversary of London winning the 2012 Olympic bid - the UK's biggest programme of work since rebuilding the Capital after the blitz. With a chronic skills shortage for jobs in the built environment and the number of challenging infrastructure and development projects at an all time high, recruiting the right people to deliver schemes on budget and on time is more critical than ever. Atkins is calling for urgent action to make the sector more accessible to the broadest possible pool talent, outside the traditional white, male stereotype. The Atkins research shows that people think buildings would be more user-friendly, practical and better places to live and work if more women were involved in their design and construction. Yet, one-third of women are put off a career in this sector because they believe it is dominated by men (33%). This figure rises to half (50 per cent) among recent graduates. Negative preconceptions about working in these industries are still widespread among all women with almost one in five (17 per cent) who believe there to be an unequal pay structure. Over a third (34 per cent) claim they do not know enough about the industry with just eight per cent of all women saying they would currently consider a career in this field. However, if more females were working in these sectors, over half (51 per cent) of all women said they would consider a career in these areas. This rises to 56 per cent among recent graduates and middle managers. Across all industries, almost half of women (48 per cent) say a strong female role model would have a positive effect on their career development. For women working in architecture and engineering this rose to over two-thirds (69 per cent and 67 per cent respectively). Despite efforts to remove gender barriers across business sectors, more than two-thirds of all women (68 per cent) still perceive there is a glass ceiling limiting their career progression. This is similar for women working in the built environment (73 per cent of those working in architecture, 67 per cent in engineering and 72 per cent in construction). When asked what should be done to help women progress in their careers, the majority (53 per cent) feel that nothing should be done and women should be treated equally. The findings were similar among women working in the built environment (66 per cent of women in architecture, and 56 per cent of women in both engineering and construction). On average, a third of women working in these sectors say that more should be done to raise the profile of female role models within their organisation. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Construction News :: home page |