Who’s the best candidate for the Board Room?
28 February 2011
In reaction to Lord Davies’ report, the Association of Women in Property argues that building an effective Board is not about the presence of women at all costs.
While the Government is seeking to ensure greater representation of women in the Board Room, national organisation the Association of Women in Property (WiP), argues that what’s needed is the best person for the job, irrespective of gender. And on that basis, there’s no reason why the next Board Director shouldn’t be a woman.
Monique Royle, National Chairman of WiP, said, “Our debate, as a ‘Women’s’ group is not about demanding the presence of women at all costs, or aiming for equality in numbers, for numbers’ sake. Making a board position a gender issue is over simplistic and may lead to short term decision making. Instead, we support diversity, because diversity makes for a better team.”
Few would dispute that bringing together different backgrounds, thinking styles, skill sets and genders, creates a breadth and depth of expertise employers and clients expect and deserve. Everyone wants the best people, regardless of gender, culture, ethnicity or creed.
Monique continues,
“The best teams bring the best out of the difficult maverick thinker or the ’misshaped peg’ who doesn’t fit into the standard shaped hole. WiP is about supporting women to develop to the best of their abilities and build confidence to get the most out of themselves and their teams. We want them to be the best people for their board positions because of what they have achieved and can achieve.”
Catherine Thornhill, Senior Planning Consultant at Ryden, who is the new 2011 Chairman of the Northern Scotland branch of WiP, said “Currently around 15% of the property and construction industry workforce are female – which makes the talent pool for a prospective employer in this industry statistically weighted towards the employment of men by 3 women to every 17 men. A woman’s career progress is not usually restrained by her gender but by her personal career choices; and even by a lack of confidence in her abilities. Women should not be employed for the sake of meeting a quota aimed at achieving diversity in the board room: they should be employed because their skills and abilities are suitable for the role. There are still subconscious stereotypes that are slowly being redressed. However it will take some time for today’s young careerwomen to work their way up to board level”.
Getting the best at Board level means ensuring the best individual, much earlier on in the process. Recruiting the smartest, most aspirational students into property and construction in an increasingly competitive market is hampered within schools by a general lack of understanding of the available career opportunities and by a breakdown in communication between business and academia at University level. The first is more acute for young women while the latter is an issue for all.
Universities will continue to struggle for funding and there will be fewer places available resulting in a smaller student pool with ever increasing costs for the students themselves. While this is a particular issue for property and construction, inevitably other sectors will experience the same problems. Greater links between the private sector and academia are needed, by way of funding and through ‘in kind’ support including work placements and apprenticeships.
The Association of Women in Property is involved with a number of initiatives to support this area, including school road shows, facilitating work placements and mentoring to help build the bridge between business and education.
Our National Student Awards Scheme targets second year students on Built Environment degree courses and aims to include work placements for award winners. This provides them with valuable experience and businesses with early access to bright young potential and the opportunity for both sides to have a ‘test run’ preceding a potential full time role upon graduation.
Hilary Ennos, studying Architecture at the University of Dundee was one of nine national finalists in this year’s Awards who were widely acclaimed to be our industry leaders of tomorrow. Hilary said, "As a student currently on a work placement it is apparent that the construction industry has been a traditionally male-dominated industry. However organisations like Women in Property give young women like me the self belief which is necessary to feel that we are worthy and capable of working at the highest standard in our chosen career. What the industry needs to ensure is that the opportunities are equal and we're all on a level playing field."
