A biased built environment?

SLG Agency copywriter Faye Graham provides her perspective on the sometimes difficult experience women encounter with the built environment.

Happy International Women’s Day! Let me interrupt your feed of ‘hand heart selfies’ and IWD hashtags by asking you this humdinger:

Is your building sexist?

No, this isn’t a bad joke about phallic skyscrapers. I’m talking about the facilities, buildings and public spaces we visit and work in every day.

It’s no secret that despite making up just over half of the entire population, women are massively underrepresented in construction and the built environment. As a traditionally male field, the entire building lifecycle has been created and dictated by men. Including the phases of design and planning.

Meaning that whichever way you paint it: urban infrastructure simply isn’t built with women in mind. Things that affect our everyday lives like:

·????? Narrow pathways and poor street lighting (relevant when you acknowledge the grim reality that women disproportionately experience higher threats of sexual violence and harassment in public spaces.)

·????? Public toilet disparity (it’s a fact that women need to use bathrooms more often and for longer periods of time – but this gets overlooked) Soraya Chemaly makes a compelling case for how relevant this is here.

·????? Clunky public transport that doesn’t cater for people with prams /strollers doing school runs (despite more females statistically using public transport)

Why does this matter?

Well, because it’s led to everything from questionable public space design (decisions that often wind-up compromising women’s needs and safety) to a stark lack of females in senior leadership positions to name a few.

It’s perhaps unsurprising then, that in the construction industry itself only?14% of professionals are female and, according to CIOB,?only 2%?of these professionals actually work on site.

Physiological tropes aside (men are stronger, bla bla bla) there are plenty of reasons that construction still remains largely male dominated, to this day.

There’s no quick fix here, but moving the needle clearly starts with education. When it comes to training and educational opportunities, visibility is everything. It can be difficult to get involved without a clear path to follow. And with many trades not being presented as viable career routes to many youngsters (particularly young women and girls) it’s no wonder we’re getting a hugely limited and predictable pool of specific people pursuing jobs in the industry.

Social stigma

From lack of female managers to maternity discrimination and social event exclusion, the stats speak volumes. Research from Federation of Master Builders revealed that:

?·????? 49%?of women in construction related fields were unaware of initiatives offered by their company to move female employees into senior or leadership roles.

·????? 20%?of women in construction reported it would be impossible to return to a senior position after maternity leave – key causes being a full-time work culture amongst other directors as well as childcare costs.

·?????? 80%?report a lack of support with menopause for women in construction – where symptoms can lead many to consider leaving work.

While more and more ‘white-collar’ workplaces insist they’ve changed and adapted, the traditional construction site is still undoubtedly highly male-dominated. That in itself can be a barrier to entry. Why would you want to enter a workspace where you’re outnumbered and not considered, let alone supported?

You have to see it to be it

Whether you look at traditional construction roles or the likes of urban planning and architecture, there are loads of engaging and rewarding fields that should be receiving greater awareness and exposure. From carpentry to comms, to civil engineering, we know the industry offers a wide range of really diverse and fruitful career options.

But if they’re not being shouted about, how are a broader spectrum of capable people supposed to see these as viable routes? Role models and representation are crucial here. From more inclusive hiring processes to companies showcasing successful females in adverts, on job sites and within training courses – representation opens the door for more diverse talent and prevents minority groups being discouraged from certain roles.

Despite underrepresentation in the industry, there are women succeeding in spite of the fact. While construction traditionally emphasises labour intensive jobs, other crucial areas including urban planning, sustainability, and the digital landscape are already transforming thanks to women’s contributions.

?Consider the late world-renowned architect Zaha Hadid who’s signature modern aesthetic has changed the future of our city skylines forever. Or CEO Alexandra Hagen whose company has pledged that every building it designs will be carbon neutral by 2030. Or urban planner Amanda Burden who focuses on transforming public spaces to bring communities together.

These women and many others have played a crucial role in revolutionising initiatives and harnessing advancements for the industry’s benefit – in turn, paving the way for others. Attitudes may be changing, but there’s clearly still a long way to go.

This said, it’s not just females put off by the industry in its current condition. The stats show that it’s seemingly a huge proportion of, well, an entire generation that are perceiving construction in a negative light.

?A recent report conducted by Deconstruction revealed that:

·????? 69% of UK adults would never consider a career in construction despite 225,000 new workers being needed before 2027

·????? 77% of UK full-time students between the ages of 18-24, state they would not consider a career in the construction industry

For any #IWD haters out there – I’m not saying that a biased built environment is some big conspiracy. But simply put, centuries of male centric design have derived from structural decisions being made by men who don't fully understand the diverse needs of other genders. While not necessarily gender biased in its conception, male centric design by default is in itself a failure to comprehend how others live and use important public spaces. Perpetuating, you guessed it, gender inequalities! To sum up, gender bias is built into the design of our cities. Whether it is noticed, or not. And it’s difficult to deny that this is in no small part, part of construction’s overall image problem.

Nothing changes, if nothing changes. And staying stagnant is a slow death for any industry. By creating more diverse teams, we create more diverse and robust designs and outcomes. Infrastructures, buildings, and cities that are not only better but fairer, safer, and smarter. Ones that work for entire communities, not against them.

So, can inclusivity and real representation save construction and the built environment?

It’s high time we found out.