Building a better world for us all
Civil engineer and transport planner, Karen McShane of Karen McShane Ltd discusses the role of feminism in the construction industry, and in society as a whole, as we try to build the foundations of a better world.
As I go to press Lauren Sánchez, the partner of Jeff Bezos, has just completed an all-female flight on Blue Origin, a private rocket ship offering tourism flights to space. Her guests included Katy Perry who sang “A Wonderful World” while looking back to the curvature of Earth, the CBS news host Gayle King, Aisha Bowe the Aerospace Engineer, Amanda Nguyen the civil rights activist and Kerianne Flynn a film producer. Now indoctrinated into the astronaut club they could have used this as an opportunity to be positive female role models.
Before the flight the new astronauts appeared on the cover of Elle magazine and do discuss STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) and the need to be more diverse and represent young girls of colour but in the article, they discussed how to be glam in space and in Lauren’s own words she said, “Who would not get glam before the flight?”
The astronaut team could have discussed President Trump’s attacks of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI), the racial gaps within STEM fields or the withdrawal of funding into many Scientific projects. There was a moment in the last decade when celebrities were loud, proud and self-proclaimed shouting for equality, and I secretly hoped that some of this would rub off on those championing our good causes. Are those days a thing of the past?
Back in Belfast I noted that we are not as prominent in diversity discussions and as an example Trans Day of Visibility passed without a notable event taking place for the first time in five years and the Supreme Court have removed equal rights for Trans people, this is a sign that society is becoming less tolerant of diversity and inclusion.
Blue Origin does not publicly list prices on its website, a form to reserve a seat requires customers to agree to a $150,000 deposit alone. If the price of the first ticket sold for a Blue Origin spaceflight is any indicator, seats likely cost in the millions of dollars. Is this investment justified when we see so many of our local businesses and councils struggling to deliver simple services like bin collections?
Refurbishing a peat bog landfill site in 1993 as Resident Engineer I am very aware of how essential this service is to society. Birmingham Council does not have the budget to increase wages of the bin crews but did make several rejected offers and their waste crisis continues. Despite mounting rubbish and health concerns, residents are applauding working crews, who keep collections going as they see it as an essential service which needs funding. The union Unite has reported that they are considering walkouts in further pay disputes. Belfast has announced that it will not collect a bin if it is overflowing, is this the start of a change here as well?
Thankfully there are those within our shores who are still prepared to make a stand and express their views. This week I spent an evening with Sandra Lee on Fairness, Inclusion and Respect. I was also delighted to be invited by “Show Some Love” to spend a Sunday morning with Kate Nash the pop star and author of the hit song “Foundation” from the album Made of Bricks which peaked at No 1 in the UK charts as her debut album. Kate delivered an immensely powerful speech on equality, diversity and inclusion outlining how we all need to think differently and be more accepting of those who are slightly different.
The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has reported that the industry needs to recruit an average of 50,000 additional workers each year in the construction industry and the Government has invested to make construction a more attractive career choice for all future generations. As such it is not just for boys, and Kate Nash’s hit song Foundation seems a very apt way to finish this month’s article as we do need a good foundation if we want to keep both feminism and the construction industry alive to achieve a better world for us all.
Karen McShane Ltd
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