Women in Transport and FM Conway have launched a joint white paper on the issue of 'allyship' in transport and construction, which argues there is a gap between well-meaning individual aims and institutional action and practice that could help make a step change in representation.
The paper sets out the concept of allyship using words from respondents themselves, with one describing it as: 'Using your position or influence to support, advocate for, and stand alongside colleagues who are treated differently or less fairly than you are, particularly those from backgrounds or identities unlike your own.'
Drawing on a survey and series of roundtables, Navigating Allyship in the Transport & Construction Sector found that 'most people want to be good allies and almost two-thirds (64%) say they have actively acted as an ally in the past year, while more than half (59%) also describe themselves as confident in their ability to act as an ally'.
However, only 27% of respondents see senior leaders visibly demonstrating allyship, while just 11% say allyship is recognised, rewarded or measured in their organisation in any way.
Meanwhile, 59% of women and just 10% of men said they had 'personally benefited from someone else's allyship'.
When asked which behaviours matter most for effective allyship, respondents argued allyship was fundamentally about action, not sentiment. The five most frequently chosen behaviours were:
- Speaking up against discrimination or inappropriate behaviour — 71% of respondents
- Listening to and learning from others' experiences — 50%
- Creating inclusive and respectful environments — 48%
- Taking meaningful action rather than performative gestures — 47%
- Challenging bias and stereotypes — 45%
It also lists 10 recommendations for organisations to support effective allyship practices
- Create space for every voice
- Learn allyship. Practise it.
- Role-model allyship visibly, consistently and in the moment
- Resource grassroots allyship properly
- Sponsor, don't just mentor
- Make allyship part of performance and progression
- Make colleague networks accessible to everyone
- Create safe routes for concerns and close the loop
- Set standards with everyone we work with
- Share what works and learn together
Sonya Byers OBE, chief executive officer at Women in Transport, said: 'There is a real and measurable gap between how confident people feel and how supported, recognised, or heard they actually experience allyship to be, a gap that falls hardest on those earliest in their careers, on operational and site-based colleagues, and, although requiring further research due to the lower turnout of men in the survey, on the men in our sample who told us they had rarely if ever felt the benefit of someone else's allyship.
'Allyship, done well, is not a campaign or a training module; it is a practice, repeated daily, that any of us can get better at... What changes a workplace is the everyday behaviour of the people already in it, the colleague who speaks up, the manager who sponsors rather than simply mentors, the leader who notices who is not in the room and asks why.'
Andrew Hansen, chief executive officer of FM Conway, said: 'Our industry is at its best when different perspectives are heard, valued and brought together. Creating an inclusive culture is therefore not simply the right thing to do; it strengthens our business, our people and the industry in which we work.'
Although it considers allyship from all sides, the paper highlights that women make up around one in five of the transport and logistics workforce and around 15% of the construction workforce, with the imbalance particularly pronounced in frontline and operational roles.
The paper draws on a sector survey of 131 professionals and a series of facilitated industry roundtables, bringing together 49 senior leaders, practitioners, and colleagues at every stage of their career.
It examines the gap between understanding allyship and practising it, the barriers that stop good intentions from turning into everyday action, and the particular dynamics of hierarchy, operational culture, and under-representation that shape allyship in these industries.
