According to RICS, black professionals make up just 2% of its members. This snapshot highlights the issue around ethnicity the property sector faces to improve its diversity profile.
Although progress is being made to champion diversity and recognise the benefits it brings, there must be sustainable, lasting change.
One strategy to address this is initiatives that improve access to a career in property for young people from a broader range of backgrounds. However, approaching this in a tactical, meaningful way can be a challenge.
Our experiences at the Chancerygate Foundation, which supports young British African and Caribbean people to first access a career in property and then thrive within it, show that while financial support is needed, a multifaceted approach including mentoring and guidance is also essential.
As an industry, real estate operates across a wide spectrum of society, so its professional demographic profile must reflect its stakeholders.
Dynamic workplace
Having a diverse workforce profile leads to a more dynamic workplace where a variety of lived experiences, skills and insights influence decision-making in a positive manner.
As stakeholders throughout the property sector become more socially conscious, they will look to work with partners who align with their values and standards. This presents another commercial benefit for organisations to prioritise diversity.
Underpinning the commercial benefits of increased diversity sits a reputational incentive for the property sector. In the coming years, it will be unfavourable for the property sector to be staffed by a largely homogenous workforce – so increased diversity will become a more defined marker of progress.
One of the reasons why the property sector has a significant diversity challenge is due to the backgrounds it has traditionally recruited from. This relied heavily on a series of interrelated factors that included schools attended, socioeconomic background and a pre-existing network of contacts within the industry.
Alongside narrowing the talent pool, this also meant that for those from a more diverse background who eventually start a career in property, the chances of progressing to senior management positions are reduced.
By working with Black British African and Caribbean students studying RICS-accredited courses throughout their studies, and supporting them at the very start of their professional lives, we are helping them plot their career choices and directly addressing barriers and challenges they might face.
Financial support
For many of these young people, studying for a degree will often mean they are the first in their families to go to university. This is where the first pillar behind the Foundation’s approach lies: its bursary programme, which provides £10,000 per student per year towards living costs.
By having this level of financial backing, students can have the confidence to commit to their studies without having to rely on taking outside jobs. Young adults who must balance studies with work can put their academic performance at risk.
Beyond essential financial support, another theme in the Foundation’s approach lies in providing guidance, which is delivered by our mentoring programme. This comprises a combination of academic, personal and professional support, with students being paired up with a Chancerygate employee or someone from one of the Foundation’s affiliate organisations.
Through their mentor, students can draw on professional guidance as they navigate their studies and plan for a career in property.
Guidance can come in a variety of guises, and they often include supporting students with the ‘soft skills’ that are not readily taught at school or university. Examples of these types of skills include understanding the world of business and property, exposure to professional standards and interpersonal skills needed for networking and negotiating.
Students from under-represented backgrounds are less likely to have been in situations where they can develop and test these skills. Addressing this will help equip and empower students to start a career in property and put them on a par with those from backgrounds which traditionally dominate the property sector.
Since the Foundation was created by Chancerygate founder Andrew Johnson and his wife Vanzel Johnson, it has sought to improve diversity in property and drive lasting, positive change.
But it must continue to build upon the momentum around what has been achieved and be focused on delivering increased diversity.
Our multifaceted approach at the Chancerygate Foundation provides a useful model for other property organisations to follow as they prioritise diversity initiatives. This will help ensure meaningful, lasting change for the UK property sector.
Amanda Walker is foundation director of the Chancerygate Foundation
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