Editor’s comment | Why racism is everyone’s problem

What is more challenging – and not just for engineers – is dealing with and solving people problems. These are the issues that involve human nature, which is driven by a multitude of factors including conscious and unconscious bias, behaviours and culture. 

These are much harder, but not impossible to overcome. Look at the great strides that have been made by the construction sector when it comes to health and safety over recent decades. 

That change has only come about with persistent and sustained effort, and it will continue to require that same level of effort to ensure the trend of reduced risk of accidents on site is maintained. It takes effort from everyone involved in a project to do that and we need the same level of focus from those same people to deal with the other people problems that persist in the sector.

 I believe that we can, and must, do better, especially when the evidence in the survey suggests that racism is preventing bright, young black and ethnic minority engineers from progressing their careers

Efforts in recent years have seen the civil engineering industry look at gender balance, ethnic diversity and sexuality and start to come up with initiatives and changes to support those. 

Again, it has been a team effort to do that. But until now, racism has felt like a topic that no one feels able to tackle within the industry and an issue that many would rather leave as one for society at large to deal with rather than it being a civil engineering problem.

What has changed for the sector is the publication of the ICE’s Racism in civil engineering survey and the Institution’s plan to move from a position of being a non-racist organisation to being an anti-racist one. The difference between the two is critical and it is important that every member understands that – and acts on it too in order to make industry-wide change. 

Being non-racist is a passive rejection of racism with a disassociation with racist behaviours, comments and beliefs. Someone who is anti-racist on the other hand acts on racist behaviours, comments and beliefs to call them out to make a difference for those experiencing racism.

Ahead of my interview with the Institution’s Fairness, Inclusion and Respect committee chair Kate Cairns for this month’s special report on the issue (see p18), I read the Racism in civil engineering survey and report from cover to cover. It was sobering reading but, as Cairns said during the interview, racism exists in society, so why would we think that it would not exist, or that the situation would be better, within our industry? Nonetheless, I believe that we can, and must, do better, especially when the evidence in the survey suggests that racism is preventing bright, young black and ethnic minority engineers from progressing their careers.

In addition to moving to a position of being an anti-racist organisation, the Institution has committed to act on eight recommendations outlined in the analysis following the survey. 

It has also worked with the Association for Black & Minority Ethnic Engineers to publish an online toolkit to offer advice about making changes to help improve the working lives of black and minority ethnic engineers.

I have said before that racism frequently does not come from a point of malice, it often stems from ignorance – but that is no longer an excuse if we, the Institution and its members are to be true anti-racists. 

The toolkit is aimed at employers but is accessible to anyone so I would urge you to take a look at its content, as well as the findings of the survey, and consider what changes you could make. 

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