White British Other White Mixed White and Caribbean Mixed White and African Mixed White and Asian Other Mixed Indian Pakistani Bangladeshi Other Asian Black Caribbean Black African Other Black Chinese Other All groups 40 39 16 19 18 23 33 26 24 31 35 26 28 32 30 39 40 36 13 14 12 19 31 24 21 31 36 26 27 29 30 39 18 13 57 50 54 42 21 33 38 22 23 33 35 14 23 18 16 24 26 22 23 23 24 27 27 23 17 22 17 37 26 18 42 44 15 25 20 30 44 34 30 48 44 41 41 42 44 42 24 20 2 3 3 5 11 6 5 7 16 4 7 7 7 22 Source: ONS (2009) Shown in table 3.4 are the differences in family types and family sizes across the different ethnic groups. It shows that single people made up over a third of White British families but were more common among most of the minority groups, partly due to the different age structure of the groups. Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian families were less likely, however, to be single person families. Instead around two-thirds of families for these groups were couple families either with or without dependent children. Lone-parent families made up around a quarter of Mixed White and Black Caribbean, Black Caribbean and Black African families. This compares with an average across all groups of one in ten families. The table shows that average family size was lowest among the Chinese, while nearly half of Bangladeshi families had four or more people. Table 3.4: Family type and average family size by ethnic group Family type, row percentages Family size
Ethnic group White British Other White Mixed White and Caribbean Mixed White and African Mixed White and Asian Other Mixed Indian Pakistani Bangladeshi Other Asian Black Caribbean Black African Other Black Chinese Other All groups Single person Couple, no dependent children Couple, dependent children Lone parent Average family size Families 4+people 36 45 42 44 43 48 30 24 20 40 41 44 43 56 43 37 35 30 8 12 21 18 30 19 14 21 14 9 13 21 18 33 20 18 21 23 22 19 33 45 52 32 16 25 23 17 28 20 9 7 29 21 14 15 7 11 14 7 28 22 21 6 11 10 2.2 2.0 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.0 2.6 3.2 3.6 2.3 2.1 2.4 2.3 1.9 2.3 2.2 16 13 17 21 19 12 28 43 49 23 16 24 21 13 22 17 Source: ONS (2009) Table 3.4 shows the nature of the family sizes by ethnic group of the UK population, which is an indication of the view that the minority groups’ population have a rather younger age profile proportionally. Again, Lievesley (2010) put forward projections shown in table 3.5 that a significant percentage of the white population is ageing which he forecasts to be 17.5 percent by 2016 and 20.2 percent by 2026 for the White British population that will be over the pension age. Table 3.5 – Ageing profile of all ethnic groups in England and Wales (2016 and 2026)
tabular format in order to bring out the agreement between the findings of the quantitative study and those of the literature review. Figure 6.3: Cross-tabulation of Age and Ethnicity The breakdown of the cross-tabulation of age and ethnicity has been shown in figure 6.3. On it the mean age is shown as skewed towards the older age profile in White British and White Irish. However, Black or Black British shows quite a sizable number of older age profile which in fact stems from the high involvement of those involved in builders cleaning and decorating, a trade which is predominantly taken over by this ethnic group who were noted to have an old age profile. Further analysis of the data in these categories reveal this in details where the professions of those involved are given but as the data on professions / roles are not comprehensive it is not easily evident. c. Ethnicity One of the notable findings from the literature review in chapter 3 is the marked ethnic diversity of BMEs in the UK with London noted as the most diverse city on earth. Again, literature and the interviews (chapter 5) had revealed that ethnic minorities are underrepresented in construction and that among the various ethnicities, differences exist based on the numerous cultural and ethnic characteristics of BMEs. It is therefore worthy to take into account such factors in order to further investigate their impact. Table 6.6 show the ethnicity categorization of the participants of this survey; the classification adopted as in the literature was based on the Equality Act 2010 as amended but due to the size of the respondent base, some of the closely related ethnicities have had to be grouped together as some recorded no score while others were very low on average as are represented in the table with their corresponding frequencies and percentages. Table 6.6: Frequency and percentage of respondents’ ethnicity Frequency Percent Valid Percent Valid White British 17 22.7 22.7 Asian or Asian British 20 26.7 26.7 Black or Black British 19 25.3 25.3 Chinese or other ethnic group 2 2.7 2.7 White Irish 12 16.0 16.0 White 5 6.7 6.7
suggestion informed the opening question in section C and the subsequent ones here as well since finding out about respondents’ employment status and their ages of employment was, as a result, helpful in confirming this literature finding through the questionnaires. Below is the frequency analysis of the responses where ‘N’ represents the number; ‘valid’ shows the number of the people under study that answered the question and ‘missing’ represents the people that declined to respond to the question. From Table 6.14, it can be seen that all 75 respondents answered the question where 66 at 88 percent could be counted as answering ‘yes’ they were in current construction employment as against 9 at 12 percent who answered ‘no’. Figure 6.10 presents the same information in a graphically presentable and easily readable manner for ease of reference, a practice which was repeated for other results displayed. Table 6.14: Respondents’ employment status Frequency Percent Valid Yes 66 88.0 No 9 12.0 Total 75 100.0 Figure 6.10: Employment status of respondents The analyses in table 6.14 and figure 6.10 have shown the employment status of the respondents. Hence, this brings into focus the nature of the job being undertaken and the age of entry into construction. These are factors identified from literature as significant reasons also accounting for reasons why BMEs remain underrepresented in the industry. Therefore, the subsequent questions on job title and age into construction will be cross-tabulated with ‘currently working full time’ for results to see if there is a link between these factors in order to confirm literature or otherwise. The results are as shown in figure 6.11. Figure 6.11: ‘Age into construction’ and ‘currently working full time’ Figure 6.11 shows that the respondents who were not employed full time happen to be in the younger age bracket with the majority being between the ages of 18 and 25 years at about 6.67 percent compared with 2.67 percent in both successive young age groups as indicated above.
7.7 Limitations of the Study This section looks at the limitations of the study in respect of what could have been done different other conditions permitting. The research has investigated the underrepresentation of BMEs in the construction industry. It has stressed the need for diversity and EO policies to be applied in the industries recruitment process at all levels. This is in respect of the commercial justification of diversification which denotes an industry which is stronger. In order to reap the gains of a diverse workforce and the benefits of skills and expertise commensurate with today’s globalization, organizations are required to become heterogeneous made up of diverse workforce in order to tap a wider range of abilities, experience and skills especially in the face of today’s globalization and the increasingly competitive business environment. The benefits of such a diverse workforce have been outlined in this study and a framework has been developed to highlight the factors that require attention to aid the process. However, due to time and resource constraints the study could not identify particular BMEs for their views. Also, the framework that has been developed needs to be tested and validated in an industry setting to assess its feasibility and effectiveness. These are deemed limitations and could have been addressed other conditions permitting. 7.8 Suggestions for Further Research Considering the limitation of this research as outlined above, the following research areas are being put forward as suggestions for further research. 7.8.1 Framework Validation The study developed a conceptual framework based on the literature review which was refined using qualitative and quantitative data i.e. interviews and questionnaires respectively. However, this framework which is supposed to guide good practice in the recruitment process in the industry to take into account the proportionate representation of BMEs could be improved with more empirical data and further tested and validated in the industry in order to be used as a policy instrument to guide recruitment activities. The problems of diversity and EO put BMEs with other minority groups and non BMEs or majority groups at different hierarchical levels which require expert attention through the validated framework to address the situation. 7.8.2 Similar Studies Comparing Practices in Different Countries.
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……………………………… ……………………………. (c) ASIAN or ASIAN BRITISH Indian Pakistani Bangladeshi Any other Asian background please write it below …………………………….. (d) MIXED White and Black Caribbean White and Black African White and Asian Any other Mixed background please write it below ……………………………… (e) CHINESE or OTHER ETHNIC GROUP Chinese Any other Mixed background ( please write in opposite box) 4. Are you of migrant descent yes no If yes, how would you describe your generation using the following broad categorisation? First generation BME (if you migrated to the UK for the first time) Second generation BME (If born in the UK /host nation) Third generation BME (if parents were born in UK/host nation) About Your Education 1. What is your usual spoken language? At home English Native Other: At work English Native Other: .……………………………… 2. Please give details of your educational qualifications when you joined the industry? GCSE O ’level GCSE A ‘level Diploma Degree postgraduate other (please specify) 3. What are your existing qualifications if different from those listed immediately above? GCSE O ’level GCSE A ‘level Diploma Degreepostgraduate other (please specify) 4. Is your qualification construction related yes no 5. What is your area of specialism? Quantity Surveying, Project Management Project Management and Investment Architectural Design and Technology Building Surveying Other (specify) ……………………….