During the London International Disputes Week, I attended the Breaking Barriers- Women in Construction held at the beautiful White & Case LLP offices. As a Cambridge MBA alumni, with a civil engineering background, and now working in construction disputes in London, the panel was relevant.
The session was moderated by by Emily Elliott, senior associate at White & Case LLP. In conversation regarding the statistics and realities of women in the construction industry, were (from left to right in the picture), Rebecca Shorter – Chair of The Society of Construction Law, Kim Franklin KC – Chartered Arbitrator Adjudicator from Crown Office Chambers, Amanda Clack, Partner, Regional CEO – HKA, Dr. Janet Young, Director General and Secretary – Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), and Sherin Aminossehe, Director of Infrastructure at the UK Ministry of Defence.
Some concerning key statistics shared include:
– Only 15% of the UK construction workforce constitute women.
– Only 13% of all arbitrators globally in construction disputes are women. Energy, oil and gas and maritime industries have similar gender disparities, with 17% of all arbitrators in energy disputes being women.
– Less than 9% of individuals on adjudicator panels/lists are women.
It was noted that there has been an increase in the percentage of women appointed as arbitrators, but this increase does not reflect in the construction industry.
To address these issues, especially with regard to construction disputes, adjudication and arbitration, the Equal Representation for Expert Witnesses, Equal Representation of Arbitrators, and Equal Representation of Adjudicators were discussed.
Some key takeaways that will eventually lead to making the Equal Representation for Expert Witnesses, Equal Representation of Arbitrators, and Equal Representation of Adjudicators pledges a reality include:
– Encouraging more women to get into construction, especially now that with the advancement of technology, construction does not mean being on site the whole day, many new and accommodating roles are coming up that women can undertake. The best time is while they are still young, and keen to explore career opportunities.
– Men are often judged for their potential, while women are judged by their achievements. So Rebecca Shorter shared that it is imperative to take on growth tasks and Amanda Clack encouraged that more women should apply for opportunities when they meet 50-70% of the qualifications and learn on the job like men do as opposed to waiting to be 100% qualified.
– Kim Franklin KC captivated us with her life experiences on how to discard the idea of the “Tiara Syndrome” and negotiate for more based on the advice of Sheryl Sandberg, founder and writer of the book Lean In.
Overall, it was encouraging to see, despite all the challenges #womeninengineering face, that the panellists were leaders in their respective fields.