Many institutions shy away from asking personal questions. Currently only two of the industry’s professional bodies quiz their members on sexual orientation, for example. Among the 23,683 members of these two organisations, only 2% identify themselves as homosexual or bisexual, a new CIC diversity report reveals.
Unless more organisations collect this kind of information, the CIC diversity panel says, the construction industry will not become more diverse.
CIC project manager Danna Walker said: “In order to achieve a truly reflective benchmark for industry we need everyone to agree to collect the same categories of information, and for more institutions to get involved and collaborate. If we can’t measure it we can’t manage it and improve.”
All the organisations gather data on the gender of members. Of the 207,564 construction professionals covered by the report, 14.1% are female. This is up from 13.5% reported six years ago.
There seems to have been more change in the ethnic mix of the construction professions over recent years. Among those who choose to disclose ethnicity, the Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) population is currently 11.3% of the construction professions. In 2005 ethnic minorities constituted approximately 3%.
The CIC report, A Blueprint for Change, calls on industry to collect a wider range of data and for greater participation in its project. The next CIC diversity report will be published in 2018.
CIC chairman Tony Burton said: ”I would encourage all CIC members to participate in this project’s ongoing development. As it stands it represents the largest known source of our professional industry data, of its type, in the UK. We now have the opportunity going forward, to elevate the project into an agent for change and a benchmark by which built environment professional institutions can measure their progress. To build on this success we need [the professional institutions’] on-going support and participation.”
To view the report, click here.
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