Surveying the future: Females wanted

THE Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is launching a campaign to attract more talent from diverse backgrounds to the profession – particularly women – to help the growing skills shortages in the sector.

RICS chief executive Sean Tomkins is aiming to tackle the issue of diversity in a traditionally white, middle-class and male dominated industry, which today has only 13% female representation.

He said:  “Any perceived barriers or obstacles preventing people – particularly women – from applying for jobs and reaching their full potential must be broken down so that we can build the diversity of skilled talent needed for the future.”

Victoria Critchley is a partner in the planning and development team at Gerald Eve, responsible for managing a number of development projects across the North West and based in its Manchester office.

She said: “We are starting to see more women come in to the industry and this is encouraging, but we are still a long way off seeing an equal gender split in the profession.

“We have a healthy intake of female graduates and we encourage all our graduates to work alongside our partners.

“Not only does this give them first-hand experience of working with a variety of clients, but it encourages them to aspire to a more senior role.

“the industry as a whole lacks women in senior positions.”

Critchley believes that more information on surveying as a career should be made available to students, and that changing outside perceptions of the industry is also crucial in attracting more women to the profession.

“Not enough young people really know, or understand what surveyors do. More information about the role of surveyors and how to get in to the industry needs to be made available to those considering their career options, starting at school level.

“It is a common myth that surveyors all wear hard hats and work on building sites; there is a vast range of career options available for all, in locations all over the region and indeed all over the world.”

A survey of 75,000 members of RICS recently revealed that more than two out of five surveying firms were turning down new business because of the “dearth” of skilled workers.
 
Over the next few months, the RICS’ Surveying the Future campaign, will promote both the local and international attractiveness of a profession in high demand, as well as taking a holistic look, from classroom to boardroom, at the issues which still affect the retention and recruitment of talented people, including the importance of effective leadership.
 
Louise Brooke-Smith, a chartered urban land economist and town planner, is the first female President of RICS in the organisation’s 147-year history.

As part of the campaign, she has been visiting colleges and universities across the country to raise awareness of surveying as an exciting career option for everyone, regardless of race, age or gender.
 
She said: “Evidence shows that a more diverse workforce makes simple business sense.

“There should be absolutely no barriers to anyone’s aspirations. So this year, I have devoted myself to highlighting some of the most effective initiatives and raising awareness of the breadth of careers across our industry.”