COMMENT Socio-economic imbalance is my New Year’s diversity and inclusion itch, and it won’t go away.
Every time I scroll through my media feed there is yet another damning piece of research on how this pandemic will scar the next generation for years to come, particularly those from low-income and marginalised backgrounds.
Digital poverty, financial hardship and health inequalities are all contributing to that ever-widening Covid gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots”. Let’s remember that this lost generation is part of our industry’s future talent pool.
If those from disadvantaged backgrounds get left behind, as the research predicts, we’ll be back to fishing in a very small pond again – and the fish will likely be called Rupert or Hugo. It seems like now would be the perfect time to double down on all the progress we’ve already made individually and through initiatives such as Changing the Face of Property and Pathways to Property.
The truth is that creating socio-economic balance in any industry is fraught with pitfalls, but in real estate it still seems to create excessive discomfort. Maybe because we haven’t quite shed our reputation as being posh, public school types.
In fairness, social class is quite a tricky characteristic to package: it’s not a protected category in employment law – unlike gender, sexuality or race – so there’s little guidance on criteria. Add to that the British class system, so ridiculously complex and nuanced that it almost defies description, let alone classification and measurement. And then there’s still a whiff of social stigma to be reckoned with.
So it’s easier to just give it a wide berth, hoping that it will get swept up as progress is made with other strands of diversity, such as gender or race. And for good reason. In a recent Harvard Business Review article by Professor Paul Ingram, The Forgotten Dimension of Diversity, the point is made that racial disadvantage in particular is intertwined with socio-economic disadvantage, to the extent that remediation of the former is impossible without attention to the latter.
However, sometimes companies conflate the two and make interventions solely based on race. For progress to be made across all fronts, social bias needs to be deliberately factored in as well. Looked at another way, as Ingram states, “by attending to social class disadvantage, you reinforce your efforts to combat all other forms of disadvantage”.
In a world of increasing divisions, socio-economic balance is the lost golden thread of inclusion and diversity. We need to tackle it head-on and make sure it’s simultaneously woven into every aspect of our other D&I strategies. There’s a lot of great work happening in the industry already, and there’s never been a better time to shout out and share best practice.
If those from disadvantaged backgrounds get left behind, as the research predicts, we’ll be back to fishing in a very small pond again – and the fish will likely be called Rupert or Hugo
Set recruitment and promotion targets that measure intake from state and private schools, push back against unnecessary educational credentials or degree inflation (proven to exacerbate social class disadvantage). Focus on skills rather than degrees, potential rather than attainment. Create paid work experience opportunities. Factor social bias questions into your employee engagement surveys. If ESG is on your agenda, partner with outreach programmes supporting those most deprived schools where, shamefully, more than half the students still have no access to devices or the internet.
And if you’re one of those state school kids now in a senior leadership position, make it known. Our role models have been rather thin on the ground of late.
Seven years ago, when D&I was an acronym unfamiliar to many, I joined the board of Pathways to Property. Every year I met the most incredibly talented and interesting students from disadvantaged backgrounds interested in joining our sector. This year, as I stand down from the board, I’m struck by the considerable progress we’ve made as an industry – but we cannot afford to stand still.
Real estate covers so many different roles and needs the broadest variety of skills and individuals to thrive. We should take advantage of that and look to promote our talent on the back of experience and not just educational or social background. Tapping into these talent pools will be a great way of continuing momentum towards a more diverse industry.
Now is not the time to take our foot off the gas.
Jane Hollinshead is director of IJD Consulting
