A NEW Rail Industry Diversity Survey has launched and we’re asking our members to encourage their business to take part and have their say!

Women in Rail and the National Skills Academy for Rail have launched a new joint survey to determine diversity within the industry.

The Rail Industry Diversity Survey is designed to identify any changes in trends and evaluate progress made to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce in rail since the two organisations collaborated on the first major sector-wide consultation of its kind for the rail industry in 2017.

“We want the rail industry to reflect the diverse communities of the UK working population,” explained Marie Daly, Chair of Women in Rail.

“Currently, the sector is still predominately male although, with an increased focus on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, we are seeing more companies adopting EDI policies, encouraging females to join the industry and embracing the benefits that come with having a more diverse workforce.

“However, diversity is wider than gender alone and it is important to understand the current make up of the workforce across the industry covering The Equality Act 2010’s nine protected characteristics.”

Neil Robertson, National Skills Academy for Rail Chief Executive and Women in Rail Trustee added: “Repeating the survey will enable us to evaluate progress and help us get better at recruiting and supporting diverse talent.”

The 16 survey questions have been devised to target the workforce at a company level, to identify industry-wide trends, and relate to key workforce attributes including size, gender split, regional breakdown, religion, ethnicity, age, disability, marital status, maternity and paternity and skill level.

The survey findings will be arranged by company category and no individual employer will be identified by name.  All information provided will be confidential and in line with GDPR compliance.

“We hope that guaranteeing anonymity will encourage as wide a response rate as possible to enable appropriate steps to be taken to meet our industry objectives,” added Marie.

All major rail companies are invited to complete the survey, which will remain open for four weeks. The results will be analysed and a report of the insights published.

Support Industry Diversity in Rail and take part today!