When 15% becomes 50 - changing the balance of women in property 10th October 2013

“Twenty-six years ago a chance conversation between two women, an architect and a surveyor, resulted in the creation of Women in Property (WiP), a highly successful national property networking association, which seeks to enhance the profile of women in this sector. Although equality and diversity legislation has forced change it is disappointing that, 26 years after WiP was formed, women are still very much a minority, representing just 15 per cent of the property and construction industry workforce.

Yet a diverse workforce with a balance of gender and ethnicity is important not just socially but for commercial reasons too. Men and women bring different skills to the table, they offer viewpoints that will challenge and complement each other. This has got to be good for the working environment and good for the (male and female) clients and occupiers. The best of the best is as likely to be female as male, so why miss the opportunity to bring her into the industry, or retain her in her career?

In fact, there are considerably more young women in the property and construction industry early on in their careers than later. The fall out is widely accepted to be at the point when women take time out to start a family, although many leave because they find they no longer wish to work in a culture that remains intrinsically male-dominated. Of course flexible working hours help both women and men who juggle busy work roles with family responsibilities. The decision as to whether they can be fulfilled needs to be a personal one based on realistic expectations from both parties. Employers need to see flexible working as an opportunity to retain talented staff, rather than a thorn in their side and both employers and employees must better manage client expectations and related workload.

But what about those women who are in successful, professional jobs but are having difficulty moving higher? Anecdotally, women across different disciplines and industries agree that a typical female trait is to work hard, get the job done well but not promote themselves within their firms. Men are much more adept at making their presence felt. This would go some way towards explaining why there are fewer women in senior positions. Perhaps it’s been a matter of who shouts loudest.

WiP was established predominantly as a networking organisation – perhaps to beat the old boy’s network at their own game - but, for many years, has gone beyond this to offer support and guidance to women across our industry, with the ultimate aim of correcting the 15 per cent imbalance.

Our Schools Roadshows, for example, target girls choosing their GCSEs, to inspire and encourage them to consider a career in the industry, particularly when careers advice in too many schools is distinctly lacking in its understanding of the opportunities available in our sector.

The WiP National Student Awards were launched in 2007 to encourage and inspire those young women studying a Built Environment degree course; it is also vital to raise awareness among the business community of the exceptional talent coming through and facilitate greater links between education and business.

Networking is still at the heart of what we do, with over 300 events held across our branches each year. We have a number of exciting events coming up soon: a Dilapidations Update (4 November in Bristol), a Wine Tasting event (13 November in Cheltenham) as well as Christmas events in Bath (3 December), Bristol (11 December) and Cheltenham (18 December). All of our forthcoming events are listed on our website. For eight years we have also been running a mentoring programme, which matches mentors with mentees and is widely regarded as being a vital tool in any career development programme with acquired skills valuable to both parties.

We have participated in the Call for Evidence forum, which helped inform Lord Davies’ initial findings on women on boards and have held numerous seminars and debates on the role of women in the boardroom.

We do believe that perceptions are slowly changing as a confident new generation arrives in business and industry. Women are increasingly recognising the need for visibility, to see and be seen, as part of their ongoing career prospects and responsibility to those coming through behind them. However, as an Association, we will only consider our work to be done when 15 per cent becomes 50.”  

About the author

Naomi Chesterman of Bristol law firm Veale Wasbrough Vizards, is Chairwoman of the South West branch of the Association of Women in Property.