From the ACT Chapter President – November

From the ACT Chapter President – November

 

Gender Equity – the Business Case

Gender Equity – framed in terms of cultural change, the business case and sharing the experience of the recently launched NSW Chapter’s male champions of change campaign ‘get:GOING’ was ably presented by NSW Chapter President Shaun Carter to building industry and professional industry colleagues at the ACT President’s Lunch on 22 October.

“I wish I’d never used it – the phrase ‘the lucky country’,” Donald Horne said to me in 1993. He was being critical, warning us of the serious danger of relying on luck. Those like me who had never read the book thought he was giving the nation a reason to celebrate.

Here’s what he actually said, back in 1964:

‘Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second-rate people who share its luck. It lives on other people’s ideas, and, although its ordinary people are adaptable, most of its leaders (in all fields) so lack curiosity about the events that surround them that they are often taken by surprise.

A nation more concerned with styles of life than with achievement has managed to achieve what may be the most evenly prosperous society in the world. It has done this in a social climate largely inimical to originality and the desire for excellence (except in sport) and in which there is less and less acclamation of hard work. According to the rules Australia has not deserved its good fortune”…

… ’Lucky’, to Horne, meant we were lucky to get away with it.” …[1] He meant to spark cultural change

Cultural change for gender equity is urgent and obligatory. For women, Australia is not the most evenly prosperous society.

The issue is to shift from “a woman’s issue” to one that the building industry and profession as a whole acknowledges and actively participates in addressing.

‘The Gender Pay Gap’ produced by the Federal Government’s Workplace Gender Equity Agency reported in September 2015 that the national full-time gender pay gap is 17.9%. This represents an average earning difference of $284.20 per week, or working an EXTRA 65 days per year for women to earn as much as men.

Over a working life, the gender pay gap contributes to a significant gap in the average superannuation balance.  The average man’s balance is nearly twice the size of the average woman’s.  There is a growing crisis of women living in poverty in retirement in Australia.

By industry, the pay gap is approximately 25% in ‘professional services’ and approximately 18% in the construction industry.

The pay gap has increased by just over 1% since 1995.

Of all women aged 25 – 29 years, 42.0% had achieved a bachelor degree whereas only 30.6% of men had achieved one.  Women are qualified and positioned to move up.

In terms of participation in the Profession, architecture has the lowest representation of women in the profession across all age groups, when compared with other professions.

  • Architects – at 20 years (45%) and at 64 years (10%)
  • Solicitors – at 20 years (65%) and at 64 years (15%)
  • General medical practitioners – at 20 years (58%) and at 64 years (25%)[2]

There is a significant lack of women in senior positions, and this equates to wasted talent and lack of diversity in our leadership teams. This phenomena directly contributes to the ongoing economic viability and sustainability of the architectural profession. [3]Mentorship in navigating advancement in the profession is lacking here in the ACT.

Gender equity and diversity is not a “women’s” issue, but a business issue:

  • boards are more effective when diverse;
  • we can’t afford to lose talent, we need to gain talent;
  • we must improve work place morale; and,
  • we improve profitability!

Our thanks go to NSW’s Chapter President Shaun Carter for introducing the Gender Equity Task Group. The NSW Chapter wants to help every chapter run a champions of change program. We aim to adopt gender equity as an ethical, moral, excellent business practice. I would like to offer my thanks to Bronwyn Jones, ACT Chair of GET (the Gender Equity Taskforce) for framing this topic and sourcing our speaker.

 

Sources:

WGEA – the Federal Governments Workplace Gender Equity Agency.  It sources its data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Parlour – an incorporated association which is sponsored by the Institute.  Parlour is a site for active exchange and discussion, and brings together research, informed opinion and resources on women, equity and architecture in Australia.

[1] Mackay, Hugh, Introduction to “The Lucky Country”, Penguin Books 6th Edition

[2] Refer to Amanda Roan, “How do we compare to other professions” published on the Parlour site, Feb 2015

[3]Refer to Michael Smith’s blog “The Business Case for Gender Equity” published on the Parlour site, March 2015.