Apprentice contestant calls on ‘male allies’ to drive diversity in construction

Michaela Wain from BBC’s The Apprentice spoke to new CIOB People editor Nadine Buddoo about construction’s people challenges

Male allyship is crucial to attracting more diverse candidates to the industry, according to construction business owner Michaela Wain.

Wain, a former finalist on BBC’s The Apprentice, believes men in construction have a pivotal role to play in facilitating change across the industry.

“We need to approach it [allyship] in a manner where we are pointing out all the benefits of diversity, not just the potential problems,” she said.

“The reality is that a diverse workforce means you have diversity of thought. You have different skill sets that you wouldn’t typically find.”

She added that there are also huge benefits for a company’s bottom-line profit. “That’s what we need to talk about and that’s what I focus on when encouraging men in the industry to become allies.”

Wain explained that the current scarcity of available skills and labour following Brexit and the pandemic is driving companies to consider more diverse candidates.

“Companies now realise that they have to look at different talent pools because there just aren’t enough people in their usual talent pools,” she said. “Things are improving but it is definitely not moving anywhere near as fast as it should.”

Wain believes fundamental change is needed to encourage more people from diverse backgrounds to pursue a career in construction.

“I’m involved with driving diversity in construction, so I get the opportunity to speak to lots of people from different demographics. But I know that’s not commonplace across construction,” she said.

“In general, if you are working on a construction site, it is still very rare to see a woman, or a black person or a Muslim person, for example. And that really needs to change.” ● For the full story, visit CIOB People at www.ciobpeople.com.