Diversity… the elephant in the room at UKREiiF

At the UKREiif conference up in Leeds, I was impressed by the organisation’s attention to detail when it came to recognising diversity. At the talks I went to, there was always a woman speaker and often a person of colour. What was brilliant was that the quality was there – there is so often tokenism at conferences. But then there was the audience. 

Of the 7,500 or so attendees, the white, male, blue suit/brown shoes brigade prevailed – it was the #MIPIMlads in Leeds tour – and a stark reminder of how much more we need to do. 

I’m often asked what’s it like to work as a woman in such a male-dominated sector, so I thought I’d share a few anecdotes from my trip. 

Firstly, shout out to the handful of men that I spoke to! I enjoyed our conversation and largely we spoke as equals. But there are a number of exceptions. At a ‘diversity-centric’ consultancy dinner, I purposely sat myself next to a director who proceeded to speak to me as if I had just left primary school. I should be flattered that he thought I was so young. But I cannot stress how often this happens. I was with a female friend, too. What then happened is that we both went into defence mode – almost line-by-line reciting our CVs as to why people should take us seriously. This action is what we women often revert to as we try to converse as equals. And it did the job, as he introduced us to others – but should this sort of thing be happening in 2023?

Then, when looking around, I realised the women in the room tended to be either at the start of their career or in their late 40s/50s. As someone who has championed maternity employment rights in government, I found it a sobering reminder that for all the headway women have made, there is so much further to go. Women of childbearing age, like me, struggle to keep their seat at the table; a table built, designed and occupied mainly by men. 

This issue is often discussed with me, and the conference was no exception – conversations about the challenge of being a working parent through to colleagues that have ‘disappeared’ after having a child. It is very much a live issue. 

The cost of not taking the diversity agenda seriously has huge consequences, not just for individuals but society at large. Emily Spurrell, police and crime commissioner for Merseyside found that Liverpool is losing out on a whopping £338m that is not being spent by women simply because they aren’t factored into the design of it – that’s lighting, public transport, public realm etc. Think about how that multiplies across the country. 

Women should be factored into the design for our cities to make them as successful as possible. In the words of Kim Powers from ARUP: “If our places are designed for women as default, they’re designed for everyone.” 

You can read her full report here.