Slow steps in the move to gender parity

The LI annual conference in Sheffield which took place in 2016 addressed the challenges facing women in landscape architecture. Romy Rawlings was a keynote speaker at the conference and now reviews progress since that date.

Romy Rawlings, Vestre

Romy Rawlings is commercial director of Vestre, a chartered member of the Landscape Institute and a former honorary secretary of the LI.

When I first spoke about gender parity at the LI’s conference in 2016, little did I know what lay ahead! Since then, the LI has been more focussed than ever before on many areas around Diversity & Inclusion (D&I), including the gender (im)balance in our profession at higher levels.

I chaired the LI’s D&I working group for a few years, have spoken at many events (including a closed session at the House of Lords on women in construction), and continue to point out inequality wherever I come across it, as much as it grates with many people, and I find it exhausting at times! Following a first interview at this same conference in Sheffield over 5 years ago, I was subsequently employed by Vestre, a Norwegian company with strongly Scandinavian ideals (which has perhaps been the biggest eye opener of all!).

During that session, I highlighted the day-to-day challenges experienced by many women in the landscape profession: for instance, finding usable toilets and PPE that fits during site visits, and the much greater issue of the systemic problems of women failing to attain senior positions within many practices. I painted a picture of a profession that welcomed women at the early stages of their careers, but which made little effort to retain their expertise and skills beyond mid-career.

Much of the feedback over the intervening years has both surprised and horrified me. There are many women who (thankfully) haven’t personally encountered any such difficulties and don’t understand why the topic even needs to be raised. There are others who, through gritted teeth and tears, have described truly awful examples of injustice and stifled career progression.

What I’ve learned – and to be honest, always suspected – is that the gender imbalance seems intrinsically linked to motherhood as opposed to gender alone. Certainly not always, but the more I hear and read, the stronger the link appears as women hit their thirties and forties, and parenting brings immense challenges in terms of childcare costs and availability. On this subject, if you haven’t already, please read ‘Pregnant Then Screwed’ (1) by Joeli Brearley (whether you’re a parent or not, male or female, employee or employer). I’m beginning to believe that motherhood is the single greatest barrier to gender equality and, until several aspects around this are addressed, we will continue to see what is generally described as glacial improvement in the sphere of women’s equality in the workplace.

Shortly after that first discussion in Sheffield, there were subsequently five areas of inequality identified in the LI’s member survey of 2017, of which gender equality was one (there’s another member survey planned and it will be interesting to make direct comparisons across the data from five years go). The other areas require attention, and some (for instance issues facing black staff, those from minority communities and members with disabilities, disability) could be argued to be more pressing. Each requires a different approach if we’re to become a truly inclusive organisation.

In terms of the gender balance, university entry to landscape courses is skewed in favour of women with more entering the profession than men at this stage. There’s no problem attracting women into the profession compared with, say, engineering courses, where female students are at around 14%. For salaries up to £50,000, the profession is pretty much at parity and younger women (particularly those without children) may well encounter no issues in the workplace. However, for those earning over £50,000, the situation declines and there are more than twice the number of men than women in this salary band. If you’re female and looking to earn more than £100,000, quite frankly I wish you luck (one woman vs 15 men in the survey). Some specific research carried out by Robert Holden into practice leadership and representation in our largest landscape businesses was pretty horrifying, and you can read on the LI blog. (2)

Pregnant then Screwed - The Truth About the Motherhood Penalty and How to Fix It - by Joeli Brearly.

There are many reasons for this, and the biggest impacts are around gender equality at home, where the bulk of childcare (and often housework etc.) is carried out by mothers. It’s often not the case that men don’t want a greater stake in childcare, but they’re not supported in taking time off since UK paternity leave is very limited and sometimes frowned upon!

If women do choose to work, even part time, childcare costs are exorbitant (the second most expensive globally) and often mothers, particularly if they choose/need to work part time or more flexibly, are seen as uncommitted and can’t be relied upon in more demanding – and better paid – roles.

I’m convinced that this stage of promotion coincides precisely with the stage of a woman’s life where she’s most likely to have young children, and it’s at that point where things go downhill.

For this reason, we lose skilled and much needed women from the profession year on year, yet we’re facing a serious skills shortage but still allowing this consistent leaching of talented women from our sector.

Contrast this with Scandinavia and you soon see the reasons for those countries enjoying greater gender equality, higher productivity/ GDP, and a better work life balance. In Sweden for instance, childcare costs are capped at £120/ month (compared to an average £600 in the UK) and are heavily state subsidised because the benefits to the entire economy are well understood. It’s frowned upon for men not to take their full paternity leave (up to 3 months), and flexible hours allow both parents to drop off and collect children, which is generally shared evenly by both parents. Consider this: Norway’s wealth is deemed to be down to their natural gas and oil reserves. In fact, that’s responsible for 14% of their GDP. 86% is put down to their high employment rates where everyone contributes to society on an equal basis.

Over the last five years, there has been much conversation around gender equal cities, and what cities would look like if they were designed by women/for children, etc. It’s generally agreed that this would make for better places for everyone, but we simply don’t have enough women in senior positions to achieve this more broadly. I’ve taken part in several of these sessions and they’re very encouraging; however, it’s still commonplace to see panels made up of only men, and women in more senior positions often remain almost invisible.

So, overall, I would say the last five years have brought some really promising improvements and the conversation has opened up considerably, with recognition from many quarters that they could do better. But we continue to battle unconscious (and conscious) bias in the workplace, and women need support from decision makers to become more visible, be seen as role models at all levels, and lead in senior roles. What could you do to make a difference?

Making Space - Women and the Man-Made Environment - by Matrix.

References

1 https:// pregnantthenscrewed. com/

2 https://www. landscapeinstitute.org/ blog/female-equalityuk-landscape/