Research by the law firm Clyde & Co has revealed that just 19% of board members at construction companies are women
79 of the 418 board members at the top 50 contractors and housebuilders operating in the UK are women, and of those, 68% hold a non-executive director position.
Clyde & Co construction partner Liz Jenkins said: “Women are one of the greatest untapped resources across the world and construction firms should be focusing on how they can attract, retain and develop female talent at all levels in their organisations. This would increase the skills base and allow construction firms to increase the diversity of thoughts and ideas within their organisations.”
However, board representation is not the only issue affecting women in the construction sector.
Construction companies such as Costain Engineering & Construction, Galliard Homes, Lendlease Construction and Redhall Group have published gender pay gap information this year, all showing wide gaps in male and female pay.
The mean gender pay gap was 26.6% at Costain Engineering & Construction, 35.8% at Galliard Homes, 30.4% at Lendlease and 22.8% at Redhall Group.
Clyde & Co employment law partner Charlie Urquhart said: “Across all industries gender pay gap reporting is helping to focus the minds. As expected, the majority of companies’ data shows that there are more men in senior positions, which in turn leads to a wider gender pay gap.
“Continued focus and determination is needed across all industries to improve diversity in senior roles. Construction is no different.”
The government’s gender pay gap legislation requires companies with more than 250 employees to calculate and publish their gender pay gap information online by 4 April.
