Poor gender diversity in transport – What can be done?

Where are all the women in the transport sector? Just 22% of transport workers are women (of which 1% are drivers), despite various initiatives to increase female representation in the industry. So how can more women be encouraged into the sector?

The first step must be to determine what’s broken or neglected in your organisation so that the right interventions can be implemented. This means nurturing a feedback culture so that regular and meaningful conversations are commonplace, as Dawn Smedley, Head of Culture at WorkBuzz, explains.

Understanding the real issues

Finding out why women are still so woefully underrepresented in the sector is complex, and improving gender diversity will take many years. However, considerable change is possible.

For instance, due to effective interventions, female participation in the rail sector increased from 8% to 17% within five years. However, determining the right interventions can’t be done in isolation at the board level. It requires a full understanding of the issues, restraints and workplace cultures impacting women ‘on the ground’.

So, organisations must introduce feedback mechanisms to learn from employees how women are being treated, what is and isn’t attracting them to the industry, and whether they’re being given the opportunities and support to develop and grow.

Regular, anonymous feedback is key

One-to-ones and team meetings give employees a voice. However, the focus must also be on conducting regular, anonymous surveys to ensure everyone can give their opinions honestly and without fear of reprisal. Quick and simple online surveys that can be completed on employees’ mobile devices and on ‘kiosks’ in depots/break areas allow opinions to be collated, dissected, and analysed.

What is and isn’t working can then be assessed, and action plans can be implemented. Ideally, the surveys should be broken down into manageable chunks so that each survey delves into a particular element preventing women from entering the sector and/or progressing. These might cover the following, which the Department for Transport has identified as shared problems facing the UK sector (Enhancing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Report – Winter 2021): Training and development opportunities; progression pathways; shared parental leave and biases; onsite facilities; working arrangements (such as job share, flexitime, compressed hours); and personal conduct/workplace culture.

A survey covering training, development and progression pathways for women, for instance, might reveal that women aren’t encouraged to apply for leadership positions, female apprentices are subjected to both conscious and unconscious biases, and women entering the industry tend to be steered away from the more manual and hands-on roles. Similarly, a survey focused on working culture and workplace conduct may reveal that sexist jibes and sexual remarks are commonplace and simply aren’t being ‘called out’ (instead viewed by male colleagues as “harmless banter”). Plus, the workplace facilities–with their lack of privacy and no sanitary bins–may be found to be unsuitable for women.

The uniforms/workwear might also be ill-fitting due to being tailored to men’s bodies. Understanding the honest views and opinions of your organisation’s men and women will lay the foundations for developing meaningful interventions that bring about positive change (so long as leaders are held accountable and follow through). These interventions can include simple changes, such as introducing separate toilets and safe spaces for both men and women, or leadership training and a mentorship programme to better support women and avoid unconscious bias.

Driving forward change

Knowing that the transport sector welcomes women, supports them with their growth and development, and works towards an inclusive culture will naturally help attract more females into the industry.

It’s, therefore, up to leaders to drive the changes to make this a reality, and this is only possible when there’s a robust employee listening strategy in place that asks the right questions, listens to the feedback and then acts on the insights!