Are the construction and property industries are really making progress on inclusivity, or just making promises? Are we still seeing discrimination and unconscious bias within the built environment sector? Or are we happily witnessing progress?

What does inclusivity really look like in practice - and are we genuinely moving the dial, or just reshaping the same conversation?

On paper, the sector looks more diverse than it once did but there is still a long way to go. If we look at gender alone, women make up around 15 per cent of the UK construction workforce and roughly 31 per cent of partners or directors in architecture practices.

Despite the number of public pledges, the gender pay gap in construction still sits at around 17 per cent, barely shifting in the past five years.

Representation of ethnic minorities in construction hovers near 7 per cent, compared to about 14 per cent across the overall UK workforce, showing that racial diversity also lags behind national averages. (Statistics from the Office for National Statistics and the Construction Industry Training Board.)

Guests:

Marsha Ramroop, author of Building Inclusion and founder of Unheard Voice; Sarah Hayford, CEO and founder of The Land Collective and driving force behind Black Girls in Property; Rebecca Lovelace, Deputy Chair of CIC’s EDI Committee and founder of Building People; and Dr Valerie Vaughan-Dick, CEO of RIBA.

Links to discussions:

Building Inclusion by Marsha Ramroop

https://www.buildinginclusion.info/

The Land Collective

https://thelandcollective.com/

Black Girls in Property

https://bgip.thelandcollective.com/

Building People

https://www.buildingpeople.org.uk/

CIC - Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

https://www.cic.org.uk/committees-and-networks/diversity-and-inclusion-panel