The WIA engaged with UKREiiF, the new annual real estate forum in the UK, about diversity and inclusion. In Leeds, this forum gathers thousands of real estate professionals over a few days of intense talks, discussion and networking.

We welcomed the location and format of this forum, which is much more accessible than other conferences. The WIA also recognised the visible efforts displayed by UKREiiF to create mixed-gender panels this year and to change the face and expectations of the industry.

But there is more that can be done towards a genuinely mixed and inclusive industry:

· The decision to send women delegates still lies with employer organisations, thus incentives could be created by the conference organisers;

· The high cost of the tickets still prevents more people from attending, particularly younger people and lower grades, typically women;

· Although more gender-balanced than other conferences, the majority of men across the conference still reflect the difficulties of women progressing in their careers in Architecture, Real Estate and Construction. This change may come from within workplace organisations, but gender-balanced conferences can influence organisational culture change.

Image of WIA’s fringe event at UKREiiF

Following a well-attended WIA fringe event on Building Gender Parity at Real Estate Events at UKREiiF, we engaged with UKREiiF organisers and suggested:

1. Incentives for Gender Diversity:

Consider offering price incentives or discounts for organisations that send a female delegation. This could include discounts on speaker slots or discounted tickets for individuals other than senior white males, promoting positive discrimination and widening participation in the UKREiiF program.

2. Bursary Scheme:

Collaborate with membership organisations like RICS or RIBA to establish a bursary event attendance scheme targeting minorities. This scheme could be made available through the conference registration process, enabling more women to afford participation.

3. Flexible Ticket Options:

Introduce reduced-price tickets, such as one-day or reduced-hour passes, to accommodate attendees with childcare commitments.

4. Meaningful Networking Opportunities:

Instead of offering tokenistic events for women, provide networking opportunities that are interesting, sector-focused, and free from gender-biased assumptions or activities. Women in architecture and construction professions appreciate opportunities to connect in meaningful ways.

5. Considerate Event Timing:

Take into account the timing of events, avoiding early morning starts that conflict with school drop-offs and limiting evening events that may exclude parents with childcare responsibilities.

6. Collaboration with Women's Groups:

Explore the possibility of organising joint events between UKREiiF and women's groups such as Women in Architecture, Women in Property, and Women in Real Estate. These events should be designed to be inclusive and foster collaboration.

7. Main Programme Inclusion:

Consider featuring a joint UKREiiF and WIA UK event in the main programme and ensure that female speakers are compensated appropriately. This will help increase the visibility and recognition of women's expertise in the industry.

8. Demographic Analysis:

Conduct a comprehensive demographic survey to better understand women's representation at UKREiiF events. This survey should include data on the percentage of women attendees, their age groups, levels of experience, and other relevant factors.

9. Inclusive Invite Policies:

Ensure that future events do not have "invite-only" exclusivity without a minimum of 50% women in attendance.

10. Networking Space Design:

Consider different formats and types of spaces for networking events to accommodate various preferences and allow all participants to connect and engage comfortably, from shy to more outgoing individuals.

11. Public Speaking Empowerment:

Organise events or workshops that encourage women to gain experience in public speaking, helping to foster gender-balanced panels with both male and female expert

(WIA’s full letter to UKREiiF is available to our Members upon request.)

And, UKREiiF met with the WIA and responded to our suggestions with many positive actions for next year. See below:

Firstly, we’d like to thank Women in Architecture for their support and partnership at UKREiiF 2023 – it was great to have your help by running an official fringe event, which we were able to promote whilst offering some complimentary tickets to your network.

Without constructive feedback and recommendations, the event wouldn’t evolve and grow – and we really appreciate the collated insight you’ve been able to share from your fringe event and follow up discussions which we’ve been able to review alongside wider feedback gathered from many individuals and businesses.

In 2023 we were working with over 40 D&I groups from across the industry – a 25% increase year on year. These partnerships enabled us to offer more than £600,000 of opportunities including tickets, sponsorship and speaking opportunities, and raise almost £150,000 for charities.

We used many incentives including free tickets for people under 25, discounts for under 30’s, and had a diversity charter for our sponsors and partners which ensured they brought a diverse delegation to the event – which saw 48% of our speakers and 33% of our attendees identify as female with sits significantly higher than the industry norms. We will not just continue this, but also go further in 2024.

A commitment has been made for 2024 to create more meaningful networking opportunities and more formats of activity including workshops, hackathons and sector focused events. Following feedback we’re looking to introduce a Thursday Taster Ticket to enable people to try out one day at UKREiiF at a reduced rate, whilst we’ll engage further with groups like Women in Architecture to share our speaker nomination form to enhance opportunities in this space. We’ve committed to further demographic analysis having already used this to improve our 2024 event through data reviews, and pre-UKREiiF training for people keen to improve their networking or speaking are on the agenda. A dedicated meeting and networking space indoors is also planned for UKREiiF 2024, whilst we’re seeking ways whether that be through bursaries or through a more connected local network with schools and colleges to create more awareness and opportunities for people to enter the industry.

We believe some of these changes link perfectly into some of the requirements and thoughts put forward by your members and I’m sure more ideas will come to the fore ahead of UKREiiF 2024. It can sometimes be difficult to marry up the large costs of creating, marketing and running such a large scale event as UKREiiF with the commercial side to ensure the event runs, but hopefully the above gives an idea of what we’re already doing to ensure we don’t rest on our laurels.

Our door is always open to new collaborations and if anyone reading this wants to get their group involved in UKREiiF

Looking forward to collaborating in 2024!