YOUR BUSINESS SPRING 2019 - 269

Diversity & inclusion
Engineering a way to success

Professor Helen James from Canterbury Christ Church University
on how they are working to increase diversity in engineering
It is important that companies reflect today's society. From a recruitment
perspective, by looking outside your traditional talent pool you'll develop
a workforce with a broader range of experience and characteristics.
This, in turn, can help your company to research, develop and deliver
products and services that respond to diverse consumer demand.
At Canterbury Christchurch University, it is a priority to encourage
diversity in engineering. Only 17% of engineering students in the UK
are women, which translates to only 10% when we look at the national
engineering workforce. Also, more than 70% of white males graduating
in engineering will secure a graduate engineering job, but this figure falls
to just 14% for black or Asian male graduates. Industry is missing out on
a significant number of talented engineers, who are needed to carry the
industry forward. If we can't change the image of the engineer, we'll be
letting down not only the industry but generations of potential engineers.

Commission. "However, people of all
backgrounds must be able to achieve
their potential through education."
Black people are consistently
poorly represented in Britain's top
universities, for example, and are

far less likely to achieve the grades
and remain in their studies than
their white peers. "Promoting and
ensuring diversity in all stages of
work and education is not only
essential to reﬂect modern Britain,
but it's also in the best interest of any
employer or university to draw from
the widest possible talent pool."

Work in progress

There are currently initiatives to
boost diversity in industries that are
currently falling short of this target.

Breaking down barriers

Timothy Nichol from Liverpool Business School at Liverpool John
Moores University on encouraging diversity while learning business
Diversity leads to innovation - you only need to look at the existing research
to back this up. The best products and services develop when we create an
environment where people feel encouraged to express their ideas freely.
At Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), we are committed to creating a
learning and working environment that values and recognises the full potential
of each individual. The university is a member of Stonewall, has signed up to the
Advance HE Race Equality Charter and holds the Athena Swan Bronze Award,
recognising our commitment to gender equality, family-friendly policies and
support for students and staff to achieve their potential.
Liverpool Business School, which is part of the university, has a group
dedicated to encouraging diversity and inclusion. The group has developed an
ambitious but achievable plan that sets out actions to address any potential
barriers that exist and covers areas such as student and staff recruitment
policies, flexible working and female staff progression.

These include the Fairness, Inclusion
and Respect programme from the
Construction Industry Training Board
(CITB), the largest ever initiative to
make the UK construction industry
more inclusive. Funding of £1.5m is
being used to grow a network of 500
ambassadors to promote fairness,
inclusion and respect in the workplace.
"Our industry is facing skills
challenges due to a strong pipeline
of work alongside external factors
like Brexit and an ageing workforce,
so it's vital that we widen the talent
pool," says Sarah Beale, CITB's
chief executive. "This initiative
will help employers ensure their
workplaces are open to people from
all backgrounds, bringing beneﬁts
such as increased recruitment and
productivity to the whole industry."
The government's Women
In Finance Charter encourages
ﬁnancial services ﬁrms to commit
to creating a gender balance at all
levels. Universities too are promoting
diversity and inclusion in business
courses as well as specialised areas
such as engineering that have
traditionally been dominated by white
males. These diverse students will
enter the workplace at a time when
more business owners are appreciating
the value of inclusivity. That's good
news for employees, employers
and the economy as a whole.

269
YOUR BUSINESS SPRING 2019

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