In the whole construction sector, there are 23,793 women professionals and technicians, with a further 25,442 in management. Together these make up 11.6% of all those employed as professionals and managers. There is an upward trend in women studying for construction-related degrees, but they still represent no more than 20% of under-graduates. Click here for more information on equal opportunity issues in Construction.

Source: CITB-ConstructionSkills 2004

Women represent about 21% of architects and, among them, the most mentioned prime professional activities in which they are employed are:

• valuation 11%
• property asset management 10%
• professional quantity surveying 10%
• rural practice 9%
• building surveying 8%
• landlord and tenant 8%

Men are mainly employed in:

• building surveying 14%
• professional quantity surveying 12%
• property asset management 9%
• valuation 8%

One finding from the RICS salary and benefit survey was that women’s salaries are 27% less than their male counterparts: £28,201 versus £38,774. The difference between male and female salaries is largely due to the younger profile of women participating in the RICS survey, corresponding lower levels of experience in the sector (average 6.4 years among women versus 11.1 years among men), and the lower proportion of women working outside the UK. Nevertheless, there is evidence that the disparity between male and female salaries is increasing, as last year the difference between male and female salaries was 22%.

Source: RICS/Macdonald and Company 2004

Driving factors behind the limited number of female chartered surveyors overall and the poor retention rates the profession is suffering post age 40 are:

• lower levels of earning potential compared to male colleagues
• long working hours and the strong perception that these are linked to promotion prospects
• limited availability of flexible working practices sufficient to support improved work/life balance, particularly where children become a factor
• negative management attitude to the adoption of flexible working practices, including the apparent halt of career progression
• limited number of women within senior management to provide evidence of the potential for career progress
• limited exposure of women to people management roles, providing higher levels of responsibility and the opportunity for advancement

Source: RICS/Macdonald and Company 2004

Three quarters of the workforce fall within the age group of 25 to 54 year olds, what tends to be regarded as the ‘prime working ages’

Source: PHCFMS 2003

Age range of those employed in the sector, 2002

Source: PHCFMS 2003, table 23. Data derived from the autumn 2002 Labour Force Survey.

In the whole construction sector, there are 7,434 professionals and technicians of ethnic minority origin, with a further 6,114 in management. Together these make up 13,548 or 3.2% of all professionals and managers, which has been a relatively stable percentage since 1994. However, the percentage of ethnic minorities joining construction-related degree courses is high, at about 10%.

There is, therefore, a huge disparity between ethnic minority under-graduates (10%) and employment in construction professions and management posts (3.2%). A greater proportion of white compared with ethnic minority graduates have been successful in the construction job market over the past 6 years. However, data on the success rates of college leavers by ethnic origin is not available.

Source: CITB-ConstructionSkills website 2004