Achieving Gender Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Built Environment Professions

The barriers that women in the built environment professions face go well beyond women’s month and we must commit ourselves to tackle these systematically and pragmatically. Like any other professions in the country, the built environment sector is facing serious challenges, amongst others, slow pace of transformation, ageing personnel, shortage of critical skills and high unemployment rates especially youth.  It is therefore important for the sector to take strides and develops strategies on how best to address crucial issues identified in the skills pipeline strategy for the built environment, especially gender representation, participation, and retention. Gender equality is important for sustainable development, according to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals and first it is a matter of social justice, allowing equal access to rights, resources, and opportunities. But it also makes our society diverse and more secure.

Despite the strong business case for gender diversity in the built environment, the gender representation, advancement, and retention of women in the sector remains an elusive dream as the sector remains dominated by white males. The latest figures released by StatsSA, women show that women make up more than 50% of the South African population however, only 13% of registered persons within the built environment professions were women in 2021.  Although there has been an increase in the number of female Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students and graduates in the higher education system in the past decade, women remain a minority in the built environment workforce and men continue to outnumber women in senior management positions.  

From various studies it is evident that while it is important to raise alarms about slow pace of transformation, but the gender gap in the built environment commences in primary school and that is where we must intervene. Moreover, a report by the African Academy of Science revealed that by primary school the belief of ‘girl jobs” and “boy jobs” are already entrenched. The gendered school curriculum also influences girls’ and boys’ future career choices.

Girl children in STEM education are held back by lack of support from educators, biases, social norms, and expectations which influence their self-confidence and the quality of the education they receive and the subjects they pursue. A growing body of evidence indicates that female attrition in built environment professions occurs increasingly at the point between tertiary education completion and career transition.  

Globally statistics show that the women exit architecture, engineering and construction professions at a higher rate compared to their male counterparts and females leave within the first five years post-graduation.   In 2014, the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) reported that 70% of the women who graduated with engineering degrees left the profession after starting their careers because they felt isolated in their jobs.  Numerous studies confirm that women who leave the professions had limited access to career advancement and were dissatisfaction over renumeration than those who persisted.  Other major obstacles that women encounter in the workforce include sexual harassment, inflexible work practices, lack of sanitary facilities on construction sites and the masculine culture of the industry.

The underrepresentation and the barriers that women face in the built environment cannot and should not be tolerated, especially by us a society that aspire to be inclusive and non-sexist nation. Hence, as a response, in 2019 the Council for the Built Environment (CBE) established the Women Empowerment and Gender Equality Transformation Collaborative Committee (WEGE TCC) which is mandated to promote the participation of built environment women in the economy of the country and fair treatment in their areas of work. 

The work of the WEGE is anchored around creating a diverse and inclusive built environment, by building the pipeline of female talent throughout the skills pipeline, identifying support for female entrepreneurship, advocating and promotion of gender inclusive policy and procurement, facilitating the representation and participation of women in key decision-making structures,  coordination of coaching and mentorship initiatives and through the creation of platforms for strategic partnerships and networking.   

The CBE believes achieving gender equality in the built environment requires a multi-pronged approach, combining hard and soft laws, strategies, including setting of targets, that are enforced and monitored.   Therefore, the alignment between South Africa’s economic, gender, and procurement policies becomes instrumental for the attainment of transformation in the built environment. CBE also believes that this can be achieved through the formulation of gender sensitive policy frameworks and interventions to improve the working conditions of women. 

Educating young girls about potential built environment careers is pivotal to accelerating the entry of students in the industry.  To ensure full-fledged participation of girls and women in the built environment, partners must commit themselves in ensuring additional support for girl child at the high school level right up to continuous professional development, mentorship, role models and professional networks.  Another critical area for the recruitment, development, and retention of women in the built environment is to have an improved coordination and communication between secondary education and schools of built environment in academic institutions.

Interventions that bolder women’s feelings of belonging in the built environment are critical at post-secondary and early career levels, long term career development, career re-entry programmes which encourage women to resume their careers after taking a break to start a family, mentoring professional coaching and professional development and flexible work practices are also critical for the development and retention of women.  The Council for the Built Environment encourages built environment professionals and Councils to champion transformation by positioning themselves as an agent for change we desire to see in the profession.

Despite the strong business case for gender diversity in the built environment, the gender representation, advancement, and retention of women in the sector remains an elusive dream as the sector remains dominated by white males. The latest figures released by StatsSA, women show that women make up more than 50% of the South African population however, only 13% of registered persons within the built environment professions were women in 2021.  Although there has been an increase in the number of female Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students and graduates in the higher education system in the past decade, women remain a minority in the built environment workforce and men continue to outnumber women in senior management positions.   From various studies it is evident that while it is important to raise alarms about slow pace of transformation, but the gender gap in the built environment commences in primary school and that is where we must intervene. Moreover, a report by the African Academy of Science revealed that by primary school the belief of ‘girl jobs” and “boy jobs” are already entrenched. The gendered school curriculum also influences girls’ and boys’ future career choices.