Hey, I'm Tasha, and I'm new to Tooting, I'm a Chartered Built Infrastructure Surveyor, and I'm keen to learn more about new Construction technologies and strategies, but also happy to talk about and champion Diversity in Construction, and how to change career from any background whatsoever.

#Introduction #SurveyingSisterhood

@Tasha Hi, great to have you. I'd love to hear your thoughts about diversity in the construction world. I would expect that is an industry struck harder than many others in that regard.

@freemo Yes, it was difficult enough to break into as a woman from a musical background, but ethnicity is really poorly underrepresented and encouraged, as is LGBT+. It's getting better and companies are beginning to encourage, but there's still a long way to go. Myself and a few other ladies have started a group called the #SurveyingSisterhood which is to support other women, but more than that, to celebrate and raise up other diversity groups too. Visibility and celebration

@tasha @freemo Genuine question, not trying to troll: In your opinion, why is representation important, and why should companies encourage it? Shouldn't the ideal be to remove ethnicity, religion, gender, etc altogether from factoring into hiring so that identity and background doesn't affect chances of being hired for anyone, and let the composition of the workforce after achieving that sort itself out based on interest and skill on the side of the applicants?

@nerthos @freemo Oh, absolutely, I always thought that myself, but the sad fact is, these things never work that way. The best way we've found so far is simply to support everyone, get visibility for the differences and learn to embrace them and accept them for what they are. Not try and erase the differences. For example, if you have 20 people in the room who are all the same and have the same opinions, how will you ever look at a problem from a different PoV?

@tasha @freemo So in your case, the goal is to prioritize certain groups for the sake of making the industry accustomed to them and thus undermine prejudice in future hiring?

@nerthos @freemo Yes! That's it, basically, if something is unfamiliar, then it's seen as a threat/challenge/uncomfortable you name it, but if something is familiar/visible/normal then it's simply just another string to a bow, an advantage, lots of options available to pick from, and in Construction where, there are endless problems to solve, choice and options are very valuable things.

@tasha @freemo Well, it can work, as long as the treatment is the same after hiring. The biggest issue with that kind of initiative is that others might percieve the group favoured by it as getting VIP treatment, in turn responding with understandable jealously and hostility.

@nerthos @freemo Yes hence why it's a general thing rather than just hiring etc. Developing current hires in their careers, and bringing majority groups along for the ride. Any change will bring criticism, but being open to speak and explain and accept is the only way forward. Hostility simply turns the brain off, for both the hostile and the aim of the rage too.