Page 13 - A4 Journal 2018 R16

The Company

Company Members write …

Anjali Pindoria

Anjali is one of our new Yeomen, having been admitted as such following her success in the Worshipful
Company of Constructors Scholarship. Anjali is proud to have been born in the UK of Indian parents, and is
a prominent member of the younger generation of Constructors. She is now one of our members and
feels strongly that the representation of both women and ethnic minorities in the construction industry
should increase, but she recognises that this will only happen if women and ethnic minorities work to
make it happen. She writes:

“No two leaves are alike, and yet there is no antagonism between them or between the branches on which they grow”. The
words of a famous humanitarian who gave hope to a nation. Though I am sure Gandhi was referring to equality of race here,
the words are so powerful they can bring meaning to anything. Construction is one of a few industries that are currently
falling short on diversity.

The idea of youth and women breaking ground within construction from early centuries has always been a mythical subject.
The fellow public see the “dirty, muddy and smelly” operative sitting beside them on public transport, misconceiving the
entire industry in this way. The uneducated yet modern society amongst us are blinded to construction roles, failing to value
the skill, precision and patience site operatives demonstrate, under-valuing their key economic impact.
Construction perception amongst the public isn’t strong, so firstly, lets assess this situation with a journey through time.
Females have taken clerical positions in construction with high levels of vertical segregation since the early 70’s and 80’s.
Could this be a result of early clichés of boys playing with Lego and girls with dolls creating perceptions of gender
segregation? Sir Michael Latham (himself a Constructor) reported the lack of equality, contributing opportunities to widen the
industry’s diversity portfolio, whilst Sir John Egan recognised that the national curriculum steers away from vocational skills
designed towards academic accomplishment. The recession saw training budgets cut, with some 46% of firms having to cut
back on the recruitment of graduates or newly qualified staff.
Here we now are in our current state. According to Mark Farmer’s Review, we are a dysfunctional training system ranked 3rd
lowest within the UK, training just over half of our workforce. This isn’t helped by our predominately self-employed
workforce creating a training shortfall. However, Mace have reported to moving to “Industry 4.0”, which means reskilling over
600,000 construction employees vulnerable to technological change which could alleviate the training issue. Employers are
now beginning to be fearful and hesitant to recruit the young, inexperienced and underrepresented pool of workforce that
are associated with high risk and investment. There are no guarantees of improvements and long term returns with younger
operatives, making it harder for smaller firms to take the plunge on the tech savvy generation and it wouldn’t be right to
neglect the impact of Brexit and how foreign workers are currently overshadowing the loss in homegrown workers in skilled
professions.

But no matter how much technology is paving the way for industry wide change and altering the figures of demand in
workforce, it doesn’t account for the neglect in diversity within construction. UK’s demographics and population has seen a
huge shift in the last few years and therefore we need to focus our attentions to the cultures and traditions that do not
consider construction inclusive to them. With the increasing diversity within the UK population, it will be the inclusivity for
these talents that will continue construction’s progression.

Our yearbook currently has over 300 members from Past Masters to Apprentices, compromising of 12% females to 88%
males. These statistics align with the industry, which reports a gender split of 13% females to 87% males. I think it’s
remarkable how we have had three Past Masters who are female, and this has enabled the profile of women to be raised
within our Company, setting great examples to all. Furthermore, the scholarships, awards and apprenticeships that are
supported by the Company pose positive in the industry, setting examples that the trades should be recognised as much as
academic accomplishment.
However, the area that the industry needs to work on collectively is raising the low numbers of Black Asian and Minority
Ethnic (BAME’s) members who are only accounting for 5.7% of the construction industry. As a Company, we have seen
proactive approaches to welcome those from all backgrounds and professions and we should continue our support in raising
awareness to this minority group. My personal aim and ambition as a member of the Company, is to continue with a sense of
purpose until this is made right, helping to attract youth and diversity. The skills shortage amongst my own group of
y-generation (ie the millennials or those borne after 1981), especially the minority backgrounds need to be given a voice –
one in which I have challenged myself to do, since I am representing the minority.
If we as role models do not set the example of what we believe the industry should be doing, then it will be harder for others
to follow suit. Take the Oscars as a great example, since their criticism of an all-white nomination and minority divide, their
governing body pledged action to double female and minority members. Similarly, construction needs to take a pledge. Our

Autumn 2018 | The Journal of the Worshipful Company of Constructors | Page 13