TY - JOUR
T1 - Lets diversify by changing culture and challenging stereotypes
T2 - a case study from professional construction higher education programmes
AU - Strachan, Rebecca
AU - Dele-Ajayi, Opeyemi
AU - Stonehouse, Jane
AU - Logan, Steve
AU - Poolan, Tim
AU - Blakelock, Linda
AU - Bell, Richard
N1 - Funding Information:
This project and case study was supported by funding from the Office for Students as part of their Addressing Barriers to Student Success Programme.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - The UK construction sector is not diverse and is reputed to be dangerous, dirty, physically demanding and non-professional. Young people often regard construction jobs as a last resort. Yet there is a growing skills shortage that needs to attract greater diversity of applicants. The aim of the BRIDGE (Building Routes Into Degrees with Greater Equality) project was to improve the number and diversity of entrants to professional construction higher education programmes. An in-depth assessment of the current situation informed a theory of change, and identified seven interrelated themes to tackle this. This case study is focused on the recruitment theme. Using action research, imagery/wording used in student recruitment was updated and staff undertook equality, diversity and inclusion training. The findings demonstrate the positive effective of these interventions. For example, on one target programme, the percentage of female students increased from 8% in 2016 to 23% in 2017.
AB - The UK construction sector is not diverse and is reputed to be dangerous, dirty, physically demanding and non-professional. Young people often regard construction jobs as a last resort. Yet there is a growing skills shortage that needs to attract greater diversity of applicants. The aim of the BRIDGE (Building Routes Into Degrees with Greater Equality) project was to improve the number and diversity of entrants to professional construction higher education programmes. An in-depth assessment of the current situation informed a theory of change, and identified seven interrelated themes to tackle this. This case study is focused on the recruitment theme. Using action research, imagery/wording used in student recruitment was updated and staff undertook equality, diversity and inclusion training. The findings demonstrate the positive effective of these interventions. For example, on one target programme, the percentage of female students increased from 8% in 2016 to 23% in 2017.
KW - construction sector
KW - equality diversity and inclusion
KW - action research
KW - student recruitment
KW - challenging stereotypes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096244733&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/23752696.2020.1847159
DO - 10.1080/23752696.2020.1847159
M3 - Article
SN - 1473-7507
VL - 5
SP - 327
EP - 339
JO - Higher Education Pedagogies
JF - Higher Education Pedagogies
IS - 1
ER -