{"id":64347,"date":"2015-11-18T14:48:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-18T14:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=112971e8c9d0a5452dc7f355e073bc03"},"modified":"2015-11-18T14:48:00","modified_gmt":"2015-11-18T14:48:00","slug":"speech-women-in-rail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=64347","title":{"rendered":"Speech: Women in rail"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n

Thank you for that introduction, Adeline (Ginn, Founder of Women in Rail).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a real pleasure to be here today, for what is becoming one of the most important events in the rail calendar.<\/p>\n

Since Women in Rail was established 3 years ago, it has shone new light on the rail sector.<\/p>\n

It has shown both the great opportunities that rail has for women.<\/p>\n

But it has also shown how the sector must change if it is to draw fully on women\u2019s talent.<\/p>\n

I would like to say a little about each side of this story: the good, and the could-do-better.<\/p>\n

Rail renaissance<\/h2>\n

To start with the good, we can say without contradiction today that Britain is experiencing a rail renaissance.<\/p>\n

In the 20 years since privatisation, customer numbers have more than doubled and rail freight has grown by 75%.<\/p>\n

Figures like these would be impressive in any industry. <\/p>\n

But for rail, they are a triumph.<\/p>\n

They are a triumph over the decades in which our railways were written off as the transport mode best left in the nineteenth century.<\/p>\n

And they are a triumph over the view that our railways had been rendered obsolete by the private car and the short haul flight.<\/p>\n

Now, with 20 years of growth behind us, we are making unprecedented investment in our networks as we create a world-class, state-of-the-art railway fit for the 21st century.<\/p>\n

Wherever you look, there\u2019s growth and activity.<\/p>\n

The new Hitachi train plant has opened in the north-east.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re getting on with electrifying the Transpennine, Great Western and Midland Mainlines.<\/p>\n

We have reopened Birmingham New Street and Manchester Victoria to a rapturous reception<\/p>\n

And looking ahead, we will open Crossrail and start HS2<\/abbr>, before beginning a new round of investment projects that will take us up to 2025 and beyond.<\/p>\n

So these are great years for our railways and for everyone who is working to ensure their success.<\/p>\n

Room for improvement<\/h2>\n

But it would be wrong for me to pretend to that I am wholly satisfied with the status quo.<\/p>\n

Because amid the successes the rail sector is facing two connected challenges.<\/p>\n

Skills challenge<\/h2>\n

The first challenge is our need for more skilled rail workers of all kinds.<\/p>\n

More engineers, surveyors, construction workers, signallers and drivers.<\/p>\n

In all, we estimate that we need 10,000 new engineers to see through the improvements to the existing network. <\/p>\n

And we expect HS2<\/abbr> alone to create 25,000 jobs during construction and 3000 jobs when in operation.<\/p>\n

Yet as things stand today, parts of the rail industry are set to lose half their staff to retirement within the next 15 years.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s unsustainable.<\/p>\n

So we are addressing this skills challenge through the establishment of new training institutions, our commitment to creating 3 million new apprentices, and by the appointment of Terry Morgan \u2013 Crossrail\u2019s Chairman \u2013 to develop a transport skills strategy.<\/p>\n

But these are only part of the solution.<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t hope to have the high performing rail industry that the country needs without first addressing the second great challenge facing the industry today: its dismal performance on gender equality.<\/p>\n

Insufficient progress on women in rail<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s not news to anyone in this room that the rail sector is not hiring or promoting sufficient numbers of women.<\/p>\n

We make up 51% of the population.<\/p>\n

47% of the national workforce.<\/p>\n

But only 15% of the rail workforce.<\/p>\n

The report published by Women in Rail today reveals that out of the 87,000 people working in rail, only 13,492 are women.<\/p>\n

Coincidentally, that is almost exactly the number of women who were working in rail in August 1914, at the dawn of the First World War.<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t make precise comparisons between then and now.<\/p>\n

But it is significant that in absolute terms the number of women working in rail is no greater than it was 100 years ago.<\/p>\n

The result is that when it comes to gender equality the rail industry risks looking like the industry that time has left behind.<\/p>\n

And of those of us who do work in the rail sector, half work in the operational, customer-facing parts of the railway, such as catering, ticketing and station retail.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m glad that women in customer-facing roles are leading the way for the rest of the sector.<\/p>\n

It means that we can look forward to a future in which, for customers, the face of the railway is as likely to be female as it is male.<\/p>\n

But it is wrong that only 19% of women in rail are in managerial roles.<\/p>\n

Or that women make up only 4% of rail engineers.<\/p>\n

Or that only 0.6% of women have progressed to director or executive level.<\/p>\n

For one thing, this lopsided distribution of women in rail does damage to equal pay.<\/p>\n

The starting salary for station assistants, part of the group in which women are disproportionately highly represented, starts at \u00a312,500 a year, rising to around \u00a317,000 after qualification.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Network Rail are currently advertising for engineers at salaries starting at just under \u00a340,000 a year and rising far beyond that after promotion.<\/p>\n

So when women are prevented from taking the jobs they could at excel at just because they are women, they\u2019re not just having their choices restricted.<\/p>\n

They are missing out economically.<\/p>\n

Of course, gender imbalance is a problem not just for women in rail.<\/p>\n

But for the rail industry itself, its customers, and everyone who depends on a thriving rail sector.<\/p>\n

Because as Women in Rail\u2019s report reminds us, there\u2019s good evidence that teams and boards that include women have richer skills and broader perspectives.<\/p>\n

As a result, they make better decisions.<\/p>\n

So as long as the rail industry fails to properly draw from the 50% of available talent represented by women, it is likely to be less innovative, less efficient and less productive than it ought to be.<\/p>\n

Other sectors learnt this lesson long ago.<\/p>\n

Among FTSE 100 firms, around a quarter of board members are women and there are no all-male boards left.<\/p>\n

Half of all solicitors and most GPs<\/abbr> are female.<\/p>\n

And Mark Carne has spoken of the difference the visible presence of women has made to the oil and gas industry.<\/p>\n

Need for action in rail industry<\/h2>\n

If other industries have made such progress, there is really no excuse for rail.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s so much more to do.<\/p>\n

Shift patterns<\/h2>\n

First, the industry should look at shift patterns.<\/p>\n

We know that working in rail can mean working unsociable hours.<\/p>\n

Trains run early-till-late and maintenance happens at night or on weekends.<\/p>\n

But for many women, particularly after having children, a rigid, inconsiderately-planned shift pattern just doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s surely one reason that 22,000 qualified women have not returned to the engineering sector after a career- or maternity-break.<\/p>\n

It might take innovation, and a willingness to listen, but a few changes can make a big difference.<\/p>\n

Image of the industry<\/h2>\n

Second, we need the industry to change how it presents itself.<\/p>\n

If, as the report says, our daughters are put off careers in rail by stereotypical images of burly men covered in coal dust, we need to use new, more accurate images.<\/p>\n

We need to explain the social value of the railway.<\/p>\n

How rail professionals improve the lives of millions of people.<\/p>\n

And how a rail engineer today is just as likely to go to work wielding a laptop as wielding a spanner.<\/p>\n

Value of engineering qualifications<\/h2>\n

Finally, we need to teach girls the value of transport and engineering qualifications; how those skills are appreciated by employers across the economy.<\/p>\n

And how our rail renaissance can provide them with fantastic lifelong careers.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

That\u2019s why I am so pleased to support Women in Rail – for showing the rail industry what it misses when it misses out on women, and for inspiring women by showing them what a career in rail can offer.<\/p>\n

I am also grateful to every woman who has chosen a career in rail.<\/p>\n

You are building a better railway and a better industry.<\/p>\n

Women have proven before that they can keep our railways running and improving.<\/p>\n

100 years ago, we kept the railway running during the greatest challenge it had yet faced.<\/p>\n

We might have started the war with 13,000 women working in rail, but by its end there were 70,000.<\/p>\n

It shouldn\u2019t take another World War to see change like that again.<\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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