Everything but the girl...

Fact: People from ethnic minorities are equally under-represented – CITB figures calculate that they account for only 1·6% of the construction workforce, against a total representation in the population of 6·4%.

Fact: Within the electrical sector, things are no better. JTL, the ECA/AEEU-owned training manager, says that less than 5% of its electrical apprentices currently in training are from ethnic minority groups or are female.

Why is this? Well, you have undoubtedly witnessed a gang of builders hanging off a scaffold wolf whistling and making suggestive remarks to a passing female.

This supposedly harmless fun is one example of where the industry is failing. The underlying sexual and racial prejudice is dissuading would-be candidates and potential future stars from entering the construction industry, an industry with an already poor image and a big skills shortage.

A new initiative is setting out to change the outsiders' perception of construction. Change the face of construction has been set up by three project partners – the Construction Industry Board (CIB), the Movement for Innovation (M4I) and the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB). Its aim is to provide a practical programme to help improve day-to-day working conditions, through positive action, to encourage greater diversity in the workforce. Innovative companies and organisations and their initiatives will be identified on its website. Advice on equal opportunities, good practice and links to organisations providing expert help is also available and a register of speakers willing to tell of positive employment experiences has been set up.

Beverley Hughes MP, Minister for Construction at the DETR, says: "The industry needs to be able to recruit and retain from the widest possible range of human resources and talent, including women and minority groups."

Attracting the best candidates

The construction industry has a long way to go to regain the confidence and respect of the vast majority of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people. Training organisations recognise this. JTL, for example, has implemented an equal opportunities action plan. This includes initiatives such as providing field staff, careers offices and schools with marketing material to inform women, the ethnic minorities and disabled people of the career opportunities in the sector. It also targets advertising to specific groups, researches barriers perceived by young people to entry into the industry and promotes the benefits of equal opportunites to employers.

This alone is not enough. Employers must also be proactive in encouraging a diverse mix of people into the industry.

Gone are the days when construction and having a trade were thought of as a profession of high esteem. Other industries and the lure of further education have seriously depleted potential new starters to the industry. It is for this reason that employers must seek to draw talent from as wide a spectrum as possible. The next Norman Foster could very well be black, disabled or female. Chris Sneath, deputy chairman of the CIB and part of the project team agrees: "We would like to see one quarter of the workforce being women and 10% ethnic minorites in, I hope, not too many years' time."

Are you equal to the challenge?

Becoming an equal opportunites employer is as easy as employing more people from minority groups and stamping out all harassment within the company – not very.

Employers should not feel that this effort is one-way traffic, though. With some effort on their part, they stand to benefit by employing from minority groups, in more ways than those immediately obvious.

A diverse workforce brings with it differing skills, knowledge and greater creativity. The company's image will be enhanced as a fair and go-ahead employer, and taking on women and minority groups opens up new opportunities in areas which might otherwise not have been appreciated or open to a less aware employer.

Helen Stone, who chairs the Construction Industry Council's Equal Opportunities Task Force, says: "Companies should realise just what a wealth of capabilities there are in the different sectors of our community. They should employ from all of them and exploit these capabilities to everyone's advantage." Taking on the challenge of becoming a fully active equal opportunity employer, rather than one that simply claims it is on its literature, can seem daunting. But, with effort, the benefits will be felt on all sides.

Next time you are on site and someone tells you a lewd, racist joke, ask them: "Have you heard the joke about the all-white male construction industry? No? Well, it failed."