Think review part 3 - skills and gender

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I mentioned in a previous post that chairing the Think conference sessions was a highlight of the event, if a rather stressful experience. I found the session on skills a really fascinating one. It's an issue that rarely gets that much of an airing and is probably seen by many as a little worthy, but is clearly fairly fundamental to making any significant change in the industry. The session started rather worryingly with the assertion by Gill Taylor from the Academy for Sustainable Communities that the skills gaps the organisation highlighted last year in the landmark Mind the Skills gap report have actually worsened since it was published.

The mood lightened when we turned to the positive impact of the panellists, from primary school headteacher Richard Dunne and Henrietta Lynch at the Centre for Alternative Technology on inspiring skills from young children to 30-somethings. And the example of Trevor Butler, the soon to be departing head of sustainability at BDP who has built a team of 30 sustainable professionals, was also a great one to highlight.

The discussion turned to whether one of my bugbears, that of the appeal and the branding of the industry. There are two issues here, probably overlapping: the first is whether the industry has ever cracked communicating what it does to a wider audience so as to attract them to join; the second is whether when people actually choose to join do the professions and trades make sure they can keep them for the duration of their career? I'm doubtful as to the success either way. Henrietta pointed to drop out rates amongst women on the architectural side due

This points chime very closely to an article in mine and Michael's favourite newspaper the FT (that's because we've finally got it delivered to the office) by Sylvia Ann Hewlett on some work she has done on the talent pool in the science, engineering and technology sectors for the Harvard Business Review. She points to a "massive drop out rate" amongst females in their mid to late 30s. She puts thus down to culture as well as the fact as more senior roles in these sectors are seen as "extreme jobs with their relentless working weeks and punishing travel schedules".

Hewlett points to programmes being carried out by firms such as Johnson & Johnson, BT and General Electric to reverse this brain drain. I wonder if there are any such initiatives out there in our industry.

Comments

[mel starrs]

I'm target audience for this post really! For my peers I see a couple of trends - firstly, downsizing to smaller or their own businesses (either keeping in the industry or moving entirely), or at the other end of the spectrum, those who are with large corporations taking full advantage of any maternity and flexible working. But I am also seeing friends returning to the workplace after a "mum break" of a few years, so I don't think it's all gloom and doom...

BTW, I've heard Ricci Whitlow, Director of Operations at J&J speak at a Women in Management event in the past - she's still very much a workaholic high-flyer but with a really good eye on what women in the workforce need.