New Survey Asks Whether UK Real Estate Is Improving Its Equality, Diversity And Inclusion
A major survey analysing the diversity of the UK real estate industry is underway — and looking for contributions from real estate professionals of all ages, genders, ethnicities and backgrounds.
Real Estate Balance has launched its 2023 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion survey, a comprehensive study on EDI in the industry, now in its fourth edition.
Every two years Real Estate Balance carries out the sectorwide survey to understand the experiences of people working in property and examine the drivers and barriers to progress. The results help uncover key issues and identify priorities so action can be taken to accelerate change.
Launching on 1 September, the data will be published in early 2023 to build an accurate picture of where the industry currently stands on EDI and its direction. The results will enable the industry to develop and share best practices and identify current barriers to representation. The data can also be used by organisations as a benchmarking tool against which they can measure their own EDI progress.
The last iteration, published in early 2021, found that 46% of the respondents to the survey are female, but this proportion drops significantly at the top level of companies. Only 30% of board members who responded were female, and only 20% of senior level professionals were women, a number that actually dropped since 2019.
The survey also found that about 85% of the respondents identified as White, compared to 79% of the UK population as a whole.
With the launch of its 2023 survey, Real Estate Balance is calling on the whole of the real estate industry to get behind the initiative. As in previous years, data will be gathered via two separate surveys, one for companies and one for employees.
While the company survey is about real estate organisations (or the real estate part of a business) and is meant to be completed by HR directors or those of equivalent seniority, the employee survey is about individual experiences of people working in property and answers are sought from a diverse range of people at all grades across the industry. Both surveys are anonymous.
“Gathering data in this way helps uncover all the great work already taking place as well as seeing where change is needed most,” Real Estate Balance Managing Director Sue Brown said.
“I’d like to encourage absolutely everyone working in real estate to take part, whatever your age, gender, race, background, role and level of experience. The information you contribute will not only ensure we publish data that’s valuable to the whole sector, but will also enable us to proactively address industry imbalances through our campaigns — ultimately creating a more representative and fairer real estate sector where everyone loves working and feels able to thrive.”
The survey closes on 3 October 2022.
