Increasing Representation of Female Construction Expert Witnesses
Posted by Nilam Modhwadia, Recruitment Consultant on Monday, March 3, 2025
Last International Women’s Day, I wrote an article acknowledging the reality that I had recruited far fewer women in this industry than men. While I don’t have one clear-cut reason for this—especially as the final hiring decisions lie with my clients rather than me—I am pleased to say that over the past year, I have successfully placed more women in construction disputes roles, particularly those entering the industry for the first time.
Could this illustrate progress being made in the industry?
Encouragingly, discussions around female representation in construction disputes have come up frequently this year in conversations with both clients and candidates. It’s good to see more firms and individuals who have taken the ERE Pledge and ERA Pledge. However, it's obvious that the industry still has a long way to go in achieving diversity. So, I wanted to take a moment to explore some of the challenges women face in this space and what more can be done to improve representation for both established and aspiring female experts.
Disclaimer: I’m not claiming to be an ‘expert’ on this topic—these are simply insights gathered from my own research and daily conversations with professionals in the industry.
Lack of Awareness and Early Exposure
Ultimately, to increase female representation and foster greater diversity in expert witness roles, the industry must proactively recruit and hire more women in the industry. One significant issue in recruiting and hiring women in this industry, is that many women are not exposed to expert witness work early in their careers. Many professionals working in construction disputes come from backgrounds in quantity surveying, engineering, planning, or project management. Yet, few women in these professions make the transition into specialist disputes roles.
Unlike traditional QS or engineering roles, expert witness work is rarely discussed at entry level. From my own outreach I do, many do not even know a potential career in the expert field exists for them in the construction industry. Whereas, when doing the same outreach, male candidates are more exposed to the expert industry through their own contacts and friend-circles.
To encourage more females in the industry from earlier on, a proactive approach is required. Universities could play a key part in this, promoting construction disputes as a viable career path for female students in QS, engineering, and law courses through guest lectures, career fairs, and industry partnerships.
The industry needs to actively showcase female experts role models who can inspire and mentor newcomers. Firms can highlight success stories of their female employees and female experts themselves can showcase their experience and success on social media pages such as LinkedIn.
The Challenge of Building a Reputation and Securing the First Appointment as an Expert:
Moreover, it is quite known that there is a selection bias for appointments with gendered perceptions of authority and more commonly with lawyers going back to the (typically male) experts that they’ve used before. Whilst this is a concern for both men and women who are trying to break into their first appointments, this challenge is even greater for women.
A 2020 survey completed by The Equal Representation for Expert Witnesses ‘revealed that more than half of respondents had not seen even one female expert witness testify in the previous three years.’
Targeted Initiatives:
Respondents from The ERE Survey 2024 suggested that female experts should prioritise becoming more visible to instructing lawyers, ensuring they make their own aspirations clear within their own organisations, attend case meetings and hearing and gaining formal expert witness qualifications. The RICS Dispute Resolution Service (DRS) also offer the Women in Construction Scholarship, completion of which is one of the criteria for inclusion onto the RICS Panel of Adjudicators.
Allyship from senior male experts is also required to advocate for more visibility for their female colleagues. For example, recommending female experts for conference panels, seminars and expert witness training programmes. Senior male experts can take on female mentees and provide guidance on technical skills, report writing, and expert witness testimony. Introduce them to clients and legal contacts and helping them transition into testifying roles, rather than keeping them in supporting roles.
The construction disputes industry thrives on networking and professional development. However, when speaking to women in this industry, or at networking events themselves, they have often voiced concerns that certain events can be quite ‘cliquey’ and exclusive, where male lawyers and male experts may find it easier to network due to common interests. Encouraging female participation in industry networks is incredibly important in order to boost visibility, however, more must be done to create a more welcoming and inclusive environment at events. To counteract, we are increasingly seeing women-focused industry events, hosting panel discussions and forums featuring female leaders in construction disputes, creating spaces that foster engagement, networking, and inspiration.
Conclusion
Women face a range of challenges when entering construction expert witness roles, from lack of awareness and industry bias to structural career barriers. However, with targeted industry efforts, these barriers can be broken down these and help level the playing field for female professionals to develop a new generation of highly skilled women experts. By fostering a more inclusive environment, the construction disputes sector can benefit from a more diverse and skilled pool of expert witnesses, strengthening the industry as a whole.
As recruiters, hiring managers, individuals, experts, law firms and clients we all have a collective responsibility to drive this change forward.
If you're interested in how Maxim Recruitment can support your organisation in accessing a more diverse talent pool, please don't hesitate to reach out to one of our specialist consultants.
Equally, if you're a woman working in construction and have concerns about your current employer or feel your career progression isn't being fully supported, we're always happy to arrange a confidential chat to explore how we can help you find a company that will champion your growth and development.
Nilam is a Recruitment Consultant based in the Maxim head office in Leicester, UK. She supports the team with researching, headhunting, shortlisting, and interviewing valuable construction industry candidates, to place them in premium construction jobs with our market-leading UK and international clients.