As degree apprenticeships become more of a part of the higher education offering for many providers, there are a number of considerations when it comes to widening access and participation. Primarily this comes in the form of the fact that an institution cannot dictate which students are sent by employers to study at the institution and whether they are from any particular underrepresented groups or not.
However, could more be done to tackle under representation within certain sectors at the attraction stage when potential students are applying for potential apprenticeships?
The current landscape
There are many reasons why a potential employee chooses an employer and there are several ways employers could endear themselves to potential candidates – particularly those from underrepresented groups. University College of Estate Management (UCEM) has undertaken research to analyse if making an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) commitment or having an EDI strategy on a webpage makes it more likely to attract applicants from underrepresented groups.
UCEM is a small and specialist institution with an online only delivery model, teaching approximately 4000 students across the world in dedicated built environment programmes. With regards to Access and Participation, UCEM has little control of the students and apprentices that may study with us – many of our students are apprentices already working in the sector or are recruited by employers who send their employees to study with us.
UCEM has an ambition to effect change and support the diversification of the built environment sector. To support this, an objective has been set within its Access and Participation Plan 2024-28 that targets the potential apprentice recruitment pipeline. UCEM will focus on influencing employers to effect a change in the diversity of their apprentices and hopefully impact the diversity of students studying with us as a University in the future.
The built environment as a sector has a significant diversity issue. Recent studies have shown that 46% of people would look for jobs in construction if there was better EDI on display[1]. A recent built environment-wide diversity survey found that 29.1% of the built environment workers are women in 2023. Moreover, the application-to-hiring ratio for ethnic minority groups is significantly higher than other groups, making it between 1.2 to 6.4 times more difficult for ethnic minorities to secure jobs[2].
What we did
As part of the work outlined in our Access and Participation Plan, we wanted to establish what our students would want to see in outward-facing marketing from built environment employers. The UK-domiciled students who took part in the study were current degree apprentices who would have recently gone through the recruitment process, or non-apprentice students who are likely to want to or soon will be looking for roles within the sector. The outward-facing marketing chosen was a business webpage, as this would be a typical consistent marketing output of a company.
UCEM students were asked to review webpages of four fictious built environment companies that were representative of a number of different types of websites across the industry. It’s important to state that whilst certain webpages provided general themes for the fake webpages, no website was based on any particular built environment company website. These websites included:
- Website link 1: Allright Chartered Surveyors – This company’s webpages contained positive commitments to EDI with a downloadable EDI strategy.
- Website link 2: Eubanks – These webpages were designed to be reflective of good EDI practice in a built environment employer, including a commitment to staff; evidence of action to support and enhance EDI; and demonstration of EDI activities.
- Website link 3: Taylor & Wilson’s Property Consultants This was a medium-sized employer typical of many industry webpages in that it had a good overall representation of what the company does, but has no real demonstration of its commitment to EDI.
- Website link 4: Cobham Drayton Walcott’s Building Services – This website had positive commitments to EDI, including a reference to their membership of the Chartered Institute of Buildings Diversity and Inclusion Charter.
How did our students respond?
The response rate for this ethically approved survey was 21 students. Whilst more responses would have been advantageous in order to establish statistical significance for the quantitative data results, there were many responses that went into depth about their choices and feelings which provided sound qualitative data.
In terms of the overall results, the two web pages that had the largest commitments to EDI in terms of values, commitments, a demonstration of the diversity of the team involved work proved to be the most popular with respondents. Interestingly, among the four hypothetical web pages evaluated, students were not always drawn to the one with the most explicit commitments to EDI.
When researching a company’s website to determine if it’s a good fit for employment, students top four (out of eight) factors were:
- Location of the company (95%)
- Staff benefits (81%)
- A good working culture (76%)
- A commitment to EDI (57%)
The qualitative responses revealed several key themes that respondents felt were important to see in a webpage:
- Simply demonstrating diversity on webpages is not enough; companies need to prove it through actions.
- Clearly showcasing employer values is crucial.
- A website can make respondents feel uncomfortable and deter them from wanting to work there.
- Companies should prominently display their commitments to EDI.
- Students felt it was important to see themselves reflected in the people who work at a company.
Overall potential impact
These themes highlight the importance of not only committing to EDI but also effectively communicating and demonstrating these commitments through various channels, including a company’s website.
An interesting observation from this research is the significant emphasis respondents placed on the look, design, and functionality of a webpage. These factors greatly influenced their preferences, even when the primary aim was to assess their perceptions of the company’s commitment to EDI. This suggests that the visual and functional aspects of a webpage can impact how potential applicants perceive a company’s values and commitments.
Overall, this research provided valuable insights into what potential applicants consider when evaluating job opportunities in the built environment sector.
The qualitative nature of this research offers useful conclusions about what webpages could include in the future. It also demonstrates that people today are looking for reasons to work at a company beyond just its commitment to the sector. Applicants value diversity, inclusion, and strong company values.