Job Transformation

Job Transformation: Replacement of repetitive jobs

Think online check-in, QR code ordering and self-service machines. Whilst AI developments might lead to a reduction in repetitive jobs in service-based sectors like tourism, other jobs might appear when new technologies call for new types of worker. In the past, roles such as social media manager didn’t exist, for example, but in today’s technologically-connected world, many companies couldn’t survive without the social media expertise provided by this type of worker. 

Job Transformation: High End People-Services

At the luxury end of tourism, there is growing evidence that customers expect to receive, and businesses still want to offer, a personalised service through highly skilled people. People matter, and the demand for high quality staff who can communicate effectively to create incredible customer experiences will likely remain, for higher-end and luxury tourism. 

Job Transformation: Flexibility

As businesses evolve, there is a high chance that employees will need to take on different types of task that may not have been a part of their role when they started. The employees who are most adaptable and willing to take on new and unknown tasks will be in demand from employers who may want to use workers for different roles during different seasons. If front-of house-staff can switch to digital marketing, data analytics or business development over the winter months, they will be more valuable to their employer and more likely to gain year-round work. 

Skills 

Skills: Digital Skills in Demand 

Inevitably, there is likely to be more demand for both basic and more advanced digital skills, so people need to get confident at learning new apps and trying out new tech as this will help the workforce to be flexible and adaptable to evolving needs. This relies on users having a sufficient level of literacy to be able to engage with new platforms quickly. 

Skills: Data-Driven Decision Making

Employees are likely to need increasing understanding of data analytics to translate AI-driven data analysis into tangible actions in the workplace. Consumer behaviours is an area that has already seen increased analytics use, alongside resource allocation and marketing strategies. Businesses are likely to look increasingly to tech and AI to grow their businesses and will need employees who are comfortable to take on challenges and use AI to its full potential. This is particularly true where business owners do not have the skills, understanding or expertise themselves to make the most of new technical innovations. 

Skills: Investment in People 

As technology continues to evolve, businesses in tourism will require more of its workers. They may need to invest in themselves and their staff on an ongoing basis to keep their employees up-to-date. Continued learning and adaptation will be essential. 

Employers Stepping Up

Employers Stepping Up: Skilling up

Skilling up to use AI and to make the most of tech starts with tourism business owners, some of whom struggle with digital skills. Businesses which don’t use AI and technology may find it increasingly challenging to stay relevant and profitable when set against competitors who use these technologies to their full potential. This may be as simple as setting up on Google to raise the profile of the business. 

Employers Stepping Up: Supporting Staff 

Technology is already being used by tourism businesses around the world in different ways to support their staff, from apps which give staff instant access to their rotas to ipads which give front of house staff a script to deliver a consistent and high level of customer service. This trend has potential to provide staff with tailored skills according to their job role and their skills gaps. 

Employers Stepping Up: Efficiency

AI has the potential to make businesses better, by enabling business owners to handle enquiries better with chatbots, to make bookings more easily with virtual assistants and by personalising customer engagement to provide delightful customer experiences.  

Social Impact

Social impact: Polarisation 

The shape and structure of labour markets looks likely to change at pace as AI and technology advances. The shifting labour market, which has seen an increase in freelance working in recent years and increasing wage inequalities, may continue to impact these changes, polarising wages and causing stagnation of those in what are currently considered low-skill jobs, however where 

Social impact: Labour Market Structure

There is scope for jobs in the visitor economy to be transformed by labour market changes brought about as a result of AI, in a positive way. Evolutions brought about by AI have already moved the fourth industrial revolution along, with inventions such as self-serve beer machines and self-service checkouts replacing entry-level roles in service-industries. Whilst some jobs that can easily be automated are often considered low status, such as day-to-day customer service roles, it is professional roles which appear to be more at risk than roles which are currently considered entry-level. Predictions suggest that large numbers of people will be displaced from well-paid jobs in legal, financial and professional services by 2030 (McKinsey, 2018). Financial and related services jobs alone account for 7.5% of employment in the UK (The City  UK, 2023), accounting for 2.5 million workers. If increasing automation, brought about by advances in AI, eats into even half of this number, the UK could see the labour market flooded with workers with nowhere to go. A large-scale unemployment of professionals in legal and financial services would demonstrably change the labour market shape and structure, and there needs to be somewhere for these people to go. If businesses in the visitor economy are able to address work quality and job status, these roles have the potential to become high status, sought after and able to provide meaning and focus to displaced workers.   

Social impact: Job Status

To move visitor economy jobs into the realm of high status will take concerted effort, to recognise that the ‘soft skills’ of communication, working with others and managing conflict are, in fact, hard and tangible skills in short supply (I talk about the language of skills in another article). These skills are among the most valuable to businesses in the visitor economy.  The industry will need a serious charm offensive and higher wages to act as a feasible alternative for displaced workers, unless new social support mechanisms are developed to support them. 

The future for tourism in the face of AI is uncertain, with many avenues for potential.

Photo by Ales Nesetril on Unsplash

A complex landscape 

Construction labour force problems are complex, and whilst it’s tempting to blame Brexit for worker shortages, the reality is more nuanced. The foundation of a strong workforce lies in high-quality training and good working conditions. The UK construction industry has neither and, as a result, the outlook for young people and adults wanting to train and enter the sector is bleak. 

Construction training in crisis

Construction training in colleges is on its knees through no fault of its own. In its 2022 Education Funding Report the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that further education colleges, which provide the lion’s share of construction training to 16-19-year-olds, have fared worst out of all education institutions, experiencing real-term financial cuts of 14% between 2010 and 2020. These cuts filter into every subject, undermining quality, impacting teacher morale and creating crises in recruitment. Where apprenticeships are concerned, the latest data show that apprentice success in construction roles fell by 20% between 2018/19 and 2020/21, with the largest fall happening pre-COVID, suggesting that the pandemic was merely the final nail in the construction apprenticeship coffin. At the same time, the number of adult apprentices has declined by 27% since 2016. This decline across every single mode of training and age group is indicative of the slow and steady decline in human resource, which is the crux of a healthy home-grown construction industry. 

Demographic differences

The sector’s reliance on the skills and commitment of older workers is an issue. When the pandemic witnessed an outpouring of labour into easier, more comfortable and safer jobs, very little thought was given to what would happen if these workers didn’t come back. They didn’t come back; some remained in alternative jobs, some became long-term sick and some took early retirement, indicative of other major obstacles facing the UK government – the ageing workforce and the increase in those registered as long-term sick. Coupled with the changing preferences of younger workers who tend to prioritise well-being and are less likely to tolerate substandard working conditions, the exodus of older skilled workers is a multi-faceted problem for the sector. 

The image of construction

What’s more, construction has an image problem. The industry survives on a diet of sole traders working in harsh, sometimes unsafe, conditions, nailed down to the last penny by companies big and small. A bastion of hyper-masculinity, the sector is renowned for its sexism, with a whopping seven in ten women in the field reporting sexism and workplace discrimination according to Randstad. It is a sector deconstructed in classic neoliberal style with all the risk offloaded onto vulnerable self-employed workers, and now, without the glue of older and more experienced workers holding it together, it’s falling apart at the seams. Few industries have seen such negative impacts of the dismantling of traditional labour structures, because most other industries that can take advantage of a more flexible workforce, such as hospitality or logistics, do not need the same quantity of advanced technical skills required in construction.  

‘construction has an image problem’

Brexit and construction 

Although numbers are not clear, due to the self-employed and often transient nature of construction labour, Brexit has had a definable impact on the availability of suitably qualified, experienced and skilled workers in the building industry. Almost a quarter of construction firms are reliant on migrant workers (CITB, 2023), and there is no doubt that exiting the EU resulted in valued construction workers leaving the UK for good. Against a backdrop of anti-foreign rhetoric and amidst a sea of red tape and an increased cost of living, the appeal of travelling to the UK to work long hours in a low-status, hard-graft industry has diminished since Brexit. 

Labour shortfall

At the same time, demand for building services surged during and after the pandemic, as middle-income earners, stranded at home, turned their focus from holidays to home extensions. This buoyant construction demand hasn’t waned, and if the Resolution Foundation’s recommendations are heeded, are unlikely to in the short to medium term. The CITB, which is responsible for ensuring that the industry has a diverse and skilled workforce, agrees, stating that nearly a quarter of a million additional construction workers will be needed in the next two years. With apprenticeships producing fewer than 12,000 additional qualified construction workers each year, the country will be 200,000 workers short of projected labour demand, which could have a dramatic impact on much-needed growth. 

Construction industry transformation

The question of what can be done to allay these complex problems is complicated. The industry embodies structural problems, which will only be alleviated with concerted effort and authentic reflection from all stakeholders – government, businesses large and small, industry bodies and workers. Leaving the industry and UK workers to solve the problem alone clearly isn’t working. The UK Government needs to muster the political will to take decisive and creative policy action to tackle training challenges. It has gone some way to acknowledging the impending crisis by naming construction trades as those in shortest supply. Of thirty-eight jobs on the official UK skilled worker shortage occupation list, more than a third are connected to the construction industry, with architects, five construction trades and seven engineering professions listed as shortage occupations, attracting preferential visa conditions for overseas workers. For employers, however, skilled worker visas are not a golden bullet, with recruitment of foreign workers costing thousands. This policy, nestled in the ‘grow-your-own’ ideology which favours British workers, can only work if the country is actually growing its own. Which it isn’t. 

A construction PR drive

The industry as a whole, spearheaded by businesses big and small, needs to embark on a charm offensive underpinned by a wholesale shift in culture that casts off macho culture and instead places diversity, respect, flexibility, job security and better working conditions at its heart. Simultaneously, the CITB needs to take a long look at itself and its focus. With a multi-layered workforce crisis in full flow, its focus must pivot away from employers being in the driving seat towards the needs of workers if there is to be any chance of success. The industry is a fragmented jigsaw in need of unionisation. If UK workers can learn anything from international affairs in 2023, it is that working together through unionisation can work. The powerful solidarity shown within and outside of the writers’ unions in the US demonstrates the remarkable capacity of people to support each other in their times of need to secure better pay, conditions and industry progress. The CITB should be a figurehead in this movement to make construction better for workers so that it works for everyone. 

The construction crossroads

The construction industry is at a crossroads.  Brexit, an ageing workforce and demographic changes have compounded the pre-existing historic challenges, chronic neglect of training and deeply embedded cultural norms which deter diverse candidates from joining and staying in the sector. Urgent and decisive action is needed, to address the structural deficiencies and transform the industry into a fit-for-purpose machine which can support economic growth and help reduce inequalities. The CITB as a central organising body must be at the heart of this movement, inspiring collective efforts to build a better future for workers and, ultimately, for the UK economy.

References

CITB (2023). Migration and UK Construction

Institute for Fiscal Studies (2022). Education Spending report

https://ifs.org.uk/publications/annual-report-education-spending-england-2022 

UK Government (2023).

Randstad (2020). Women in Construction in 2020 Report

RICS (2023). Insights

Photo by Jeriden Villegas on Unsplash

The question is asked time and again. Only 6% of Winter and Mountaineering Instructor qualification holders are women. It is often hard to get hold of a woman to run a course because there are so few qualified women, and yet at that level some instructors have reported to me that they still get offered work less than their male counterparts – men still seem to be the default option. 

Turning to my own experience and to my research into leadership in the outdoor industry, I started to reflect more deeply on what it was that I have experienced and what I’m learning from the academic literature, to explore the field and develop understandings from different perspectives. 

The unwritten rules and social norms

The world is built upon layers of unwritten, tacit rules and norms, which incur subtle sanctions from others which we might not always notice. They have evolved, sometimes over generations. In a broad sense, when people think of a leader they most often think of a man. That is the default. In mountaineering, and the outdoor industry it feels especially true. In the 18th and 19th centuries the ideals of the scientific enlightenment and romanticism fused to create the perfect breeding ground for the image of the modern mountaineer. The era produced a great man, who achieved great things, on the back of the rise of the British Empire and colonial rule. An image of the highest order leadership qualities was formed, irrespective of his shortcomings, and his presence came to be revered, idolised and ultimately developed into the blueprint for what a mountaineer should look, sound and be like. 

Of course, this has evolved, yet deep threads weave through today’s outdoor leadership and mountaineering field in the UK which evidence themselves in unwritten rules, norms and expectations. Being able to identify the rules and norms is easier for those who have better access into knowledge networks. Men and women develop social capital (networks) differently, and because of this it’s easier for men to tap into work-enhancing networks, identify suitable role models and gain insights and information. If you don’t know the rules, you can’t play by them.

Who am I?

Identity is an integral part of human existence. Without it, what are we? It helps us to position ourselves in the world, and it helps others to identify who we are, what our motives might be and whether we might be friend or foe. It is a primal and necessary. In western culture at least, when someone loses their identity or has identity challenges, it can lead to distress and to conditions like borderline personality disorder. 

When others have expectations of seeing someone different, someone who doesn’t look like you, this shows up in their behaviours, language and actions in ways which can be very subtle.  For the person on the receiving end, this can weigh heavily, causing cognitive dissonance, a kind of mismatch in our brain which causes internal conflict and makes us behave differently or not in line with our true self and values. What this means in the outdoors is that the person who doesn’t quite fit the expectation can feel this sense of not fitting in or not having an aligned identity. It takes mental effort to process and challenge. If you’re someone who fits the expected picture of what a leader in the field looks like, then you’re not going to feel the dissonance and you may not notice it unless you’ve specifically attuned to this phenomenon. 

What we say and do

The things we say and the things we do each day are what create our culture. Mountaineering culture is still firmly rooted in the shoes of middle class white men. I have experienced language used as part of everyday climbing and mountaineering culture that has put me off or made me feel uncomfortable.  

‘Stopping again?’ ‘Ooh it’s loo time for the ladies!’ Yes we are stopping again. I’m 5ft 1 and 8 stone – my bladder is probably half the size of yours. I’ve had a baby. Women need to go to the loo more often. Your comment suggests that you think my body is an inadequacy that is holding you back and now I feel self conscious about not just that, but all the other things that set me apart from you. 

‘Find a rock to go behind‘ Ok, I’m fine with that, but if I’m bleeding and need to clean my mooncup, I am going to be a long time and it’s stressful. If you’re all packed up ready to go, having had a snack, when I get back, I’m at a disadvantage for the next leg. As a result I might make more mistakes and be seen as less competent. That is likely to make me feel less competent, even though I’m not. 

‘You need a good dose of MTFU!’ Did you mean: ‘great decision! You made it back safe and didn’t die or have a serious accident’. Macho, masculine bravado in action. It would be interesting to see accident stats for people with the MTFU approach to outdoor life.

‘Alright mate‘ It’s so subtle. What i’ve observed is that ‘mate’ is exclusively used by men to other men. To me it signifies something more than being friends, it’s about being part of a club that other people (women, enbies) are not a part of. For what it’s worth, it often seems that employment of the ‘mate’ clause shows the person’s discomfort and feelings of vulnerability. 

In summary, the small regular comments, which I find are often ego-driven, are tedious and wearing. It’s time to fully recognise that a woman isn’t a small man and being a woman can mean that we have to make more effort. The average weight of a man in the UK is 83kg. My weight is 50kg. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that if we carry the same weight pack I am doing more work, as a proportion of my body weight. In winter, I can’t physically follow the stride of a tall person in front of me – it’s too big, and to make an attempt at this could risk physical injury. These factors have an impact on energy and on my body. 

It takes concerted and purposeful effort and a willingness to question, be vulnerable and be wrong, to move forward from here. 

Stereotype Threat

I am not alone in having felt that as the lone woman in a group I am somehow representing all women and need to be perfect. The psychological weight of this can be demanding and make the experience less enjoyable. Stereotype threat is a widely recognised phenomenon whereby an individual in a minority who is concerned about stereotypes within a particular group will have a tendency to conform to the stereotype. This has the impact of reinforcing that stereotype to everyone. In a group where they are not at risk of being stereotyped, this conformity to the stereotype disappears. 

If you’d like to know more about stereotype threat there is an excellent podcast here: How They See Us

The in crowd and the out crowd

Everyone has felt this at one point or another. The phenomenon has existed since the dawn of civilisation and is fundamentally a survival instinct – we tend to like people who are like us. Having preferred people helps us to take shortcuts and makes things easier for us, however, in terms of survival in the 21st century and the best use of resources, it pays us to utilise the best available talent, skill and knowledge rather than those people who look like us. 

Expectations of others 

Some of the subtle undercurrents I’ve experienced are laddishness, bravado, the idolatry of risk-taking behaviours, and language which subtly undermines womens’ presence in the sphere. When it is overt it is sometimes brushed off as a joke. When it is spoken by older men, it is referred to as a ‘generational thing’, which will eventually disappear. When this is not challenged by others in the group, particularly by other men who don’t want to rock the boat, lose status or be seen as difficult, it’s left to the women. And they then become the difficult woman. 

You might ask how I know it isn’t the same in groups of predominantly women. Over the last few years I have run women-only meetups and in those groups the language and culture has been different – open, reflective and willing to adapt and accept mistakes. 

Finding a place and feeling important are central to human existence. Laddish and ego-driven behaviours are ways in which I see men (most often) asserting their power and vying for status within a group. It often appears to me that the behaviours are driven by people’s ego and are strategies used to disguise their discomfort and fear of losing status. 

Loud Voice

There are a vast swathe of ways in which women are treated more negatively than men in the same scenarios. I’ve realised recently that I’ve got a number of different ‘voices’, and it’s the loud persistent voice that I have to use most often in groups of men. However, this has its challenges. Women and men who do the exact same thing are perceived and rated differently. Assertive women are seen as difficult, whereas assertive men are perceived as leaderly. 

Speak up

The most frustrating experience I’ve had was on a training course where I was the only woman. One of the other participants was allowed to take over and, quite frankly, be a bit of a bully. The boundaries for learning weren’t set and the training was awful. I spent the whole day feeling defensive and attacked. This was run by a nationally recognised organisation. My take from this, as an educator who seeks to improve and recognise my shortcomings: the facilitation skills of course leaders has to improve. Skilled facilitators should be able to effectively manage members of a group who are being oppressive towards others and are inhibiting others’ learning. This is a learned skill, but this isn’t a skill which is taught effectively on any training courses, as far as I know. Train people in the skills they need to enable people to grow and develop. That is a core part of the role of leaders in the outdoor industry. This idea took me onto the way we talk about skills, which is a topic I wrote about on a different post: The Language of Skills.

Reflexivity

This skill is the number one undervalued and underutilised skill within training programmes and the industry. It is a skill that can enable us to come to the deep recognition that we are inherently biased creatures and that this inevitably leads us to favour one over another. Without this bias, our brains would struggle to take action, but with it we create ‘in’ crews and ‘out’’ crews. To deny this is to deny the fundamentals of human-nature. Reflection in an open, safe and honey way can unlock individual agency, so that we can make change happen and do things differently. Reflexivity should form the foundation of all training courses.

What to do

Other people are biased. And so are we, so instead of accusing others of bias or defending our position, those of us who are in a position of power and those of us who are in a minority need to take a deep breath and channel the anger, frustration, fear, discomfort and confusion into reflecting on ourselves, and deepening our understanding of the drivers and motivations of others so that our efforts might meaningfully have an impact and effect change. The industry as a whole needs to step up, those at the top – NGB’s, national associations and, in particular, training providers., however the industry is formulated largely from a freelance population. Whilst individuals don’t need to do all the work, it is the day-by-day actions of you as an individual which imparts true cultural change. 

Put your ego aside, reflect on and recognise your shortcomings and do something about it.

Got something to say about this? Sense check it with a critical friend first, then drop a comment below once it’s passed the ‘not being a douchebag’ test.

Soft skills can be difficult to impart to trainees and they are more difficult to assess. Rather than take on this challenge, the status quo has been maintained and the focus of qualifications remains the technical aspects, including climbing hard, (which is a contentious issue in the field, for discussion in another article!). This demarcation and attribution of enhanced value to ‘hard’ skills is of detriment to everyone. The key skills required of a mountain leader/instructor are to understand, connect with, and communicate effectively with their client to impart skills, knowledge and understanding, whilst, of course, keeping them safe. The same is true in ordinary climbing relationships.

Why does ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ matter?

The bifurcation of skills into ‘hard’ and ‘soft’, with a focus on the ‘hard’ skills and the assumption that women will be better at the ‘soft’ skills has a few effects as follows:

a) ‘Soft’ is an insult. It’s seen as less-than. As a result, it’s given less weight and authority. In the field, those skills are the crucial ones.

b) This distinction stops people from gaining the actual skills needed – namely reflexivity and people skills, because the focus is on the traditionally masculinised ‘hard’ skills.

c) It prevents the industry as a whole from developing and being as great as it could be

d) It inhibits some women from entering or progressing in the industry as they perceive that they have to be super tekkers, when in fact they don’t.

Isn’t this changing?

In short, I’m not sure it is. Part of me wonders if the lack of progress in this regard is actually to do with those who have power and influence being unwilling to stick their necks out and do what’s right, out of fear of losing their power and influence (and income). It’s important to recognise that there are a small number of vocal men on the internet whose sole purpose seems to be to dole abusive, derogatory and plain ignorant comments to anyone who doesn’t have their world view. This can and has been directed towards those in power who are ready to effect change, and the result is u-turns and a return to inertia. Staying principled and firm on providing equitable provision can be hard to do. No-one wants to be hated, undermined or up-seated, and that is the risk, particularly in members’ organisations, where maintenance of the status quo can feel more comfortable for members. If things are working for you, why would you call for change and possibly make things harder for yourself?

SO….?

‘Hard’ and ‘soft’ skills is nonsense terminology and it’s time for it to go. Where that starts? If it isn’t going to start with those in power with widespread influence, then it probably starts with you and me. If you want some ideas for alternatives, here’s a great article from Liz Abinante from the equally male dominated Software industry.

Got something to say about this? Sense check it with a critical friend first, then drop a comment below once it’s passed the ‘not being a douchebag’ test.

It was a chance encounter. After small talk and niceties we meandered to the topic of leadership in the outdoor industry, and through my hazy knowledge of their background, I came to hear some brilliant snippets about their life as a climber, instructor and adventurer, which lit up my brain. The story of their path into the industry was fascinating and what they shared has made me think more deeply about how leaders navigate their way to (or leave) the higher levels of mountaineering leadership. One of the key transition points they shared was the move from being a largely UK-based climber to one who climbs the world and instructs in it; stepping out into the wider world, into a more privileged sphere where people have had money and opportunities very different from their own. 

It sounded like they were forced to make a choice at that point of transition – change yourself to be accepted or don’t, and you won’t – and this is interesting to me, someone who has come from a working class background, the child of a teenage single mother and absent, alcoholic father, and who has seen the subtle forces of social, cultural and economic capital at play on too many occasions to keep track. 

Adapting ourselves and our behaviour to comply with social norms isn’t unusual – we do this from childhood, but at what point do the demands from social norms become unreasonable?  What role does social class play in the outdoor industry? Does it make a difference to whether people stay in the industry and progress as leaders or move on to other vocations? Is it the same for people of all genders?

At present, I am researching social capital and how this phenomenon impacts and influences the career pathways and journeys of leaders in the outdoor industry. Social capital is all about our networks, the social norms in those networks and the sanctions that apply when someone breaks the social norms. Having a network of contacts in the field in which we work is likely to benefit individuals for a range of reasons. Access to advice is important when you’re new to a field and perhaps more so now for experienced instructors than previously, as the world speeds up amidst the 4th Industrial Revolution (4iR). Mentoring is much easier to access if you know someone already who has influence or wider contacts. Understanding a field or industry takes time, and this understanding is enhanced when we connect with people from a wider base. 

Sometimes networks are much more subtle. They can offer us acceptance – being part of the tribe, or leaving us out of the tribe, if we transgress. They can validate or invalidate our feelings or even our existence. 

The topics are complex and fascinating and I would love to hear other people’s perspectives on what you see, how you’ve experienced things and how you navigate these challenges. Please share your perspectives in the comments box.

Emily Pitts

The outdoor industry is no exception to this, and in fact, perhaps moreso; accessing the outdoors is much more likely if we know someone who takes part in outdoor activities, and we are significantly less likely to work in the field as an instructor if we haven’t known people from that field as we have grown up and developed our plans for the future. 

Getting into the Outdoors is Easy

Many people would have us believe that accessing the outdoors is ‘easy’, ‘straightforward’ and ‘costs nothing’, but the evidence shows that this isn’t true. The outdoors has a particular set of socially constructed norms. These norms are not universally valid, but instead are ones that outdoors people, largely middle class white men, have constructed through many years of dominating the social and natural worlds. What we saw in the UK at the onset of lockdown was that these socially constructed norms are not understood by everyone. The results of this difference in socially accepted behaviours was the littering and varied treatment of outdoors spaces – very much a deviation from the generally accepted norms; from the perspective of people who venture outdoors regularly. If accessing the outdoors were so easy and straightforward, then surely ‘outsiders’ would have had little difficulty in assimilating these unwritten rules. 

It’s all about the Fit

Access to the outdoors is not equal, and one of the underlying factors in this is the wide variation in people’s social capital. Social capital refers to our networks and the social norms and sanctions within those networks. Social class and upbringing have an impact on access to useful social networks, and when combined with the effects of economic capital (having money) and cultural capital (knowing what’s socially acceptable to say and do in a given situation), things start to become complex. Think about fitting in and feeling like you belong. Humans are sentient creatures who thrive as part of a tribe. When we feel part of the tribe, things are good – we are protected, safe and secure. When this security is challenged, conflicted or difficult, things don’t always feel so great. Social capital can be a wonderful thing, providing individuals with shared goals, boosting cooperation and enabling great things to happen as a collective. However, when groups form there is a tendency to accept only people who are similar to ourselves (homologous reproduction), and when a group becomes so strong, tight and homogeneous, this can create its own unique problems. 

Complex Threat of the Stereotype

When entering a new group, individuals who are different to the other members within the group can experience stereotype threat, where they recognise (and fear) the stereotype linked to their minority status. Contrary to what might be expected, this self-awareness can lead to fulfilment of the stereotype, underperforming and ‘confirming’ the stereotype. Another dimension of tight-knit group formation is shown in numerous behavioural experiments where individuals respond more positively to requests from people who are more like themselves. The implications of this are clear – if we respond less positively to people who are different to us, then a culture of exclusion within groups and communities is a natural consequence.  

Standard Norms

In rock climbing and mountaineering, male-dominated domains with very little ethnic diversity in the UK, it’s easy to see how these phenomena can develop and create exclusive enclaves, even in situations designed for inclusion, such as women’s clubs. Standard sets of social norms and resulting behaviours can develop, producing homogeneity and preventing people from diverse backgrounds from feeling welcome. 

Exclusivities & Reflexivity

Creating strong communities based on shared values and passions is a linchpin of trust, cooperation and success; particularly relevant in climbing, where our partners hold our lives in their hands. Yet, in taking part in group activities and creating communities, as individuals we must recognise the exclusivities which those communities can bring, and actively seek to include people who are not like ourselves, through active engagement not only on social media, but in our individual social interactions. Developing understanding and compassion for the multiplicity of lived realities of others is one way to counteract these tendencies, bringing depth to our own networks and benefitting the wider community. Reflexivity and the ability to challenge our community’s beliefs, values and behaviours, which may have come to exist as ‘standard’ and ‘normal’, is crucial in our industry’s journey to equality. 

Emily Pitts

About the author

Emily is an active member of the Karabiner Mountaineering Club, having been president from 2018 – 2020. In 2013 she started Womenclimb, a women’s rock climbing website, which grew into a community of climbers with 182 official members and over 10,000 followers on social media. She served as Chair of the BMC north west area, engaging 10,000+ BMC members in the democratic process of the organisation and as Director of the International Social Capital Association.

Emily enjoys trad climbing, winter climbing and wild swimming. She works in Higher Education, supporting students in their career development, and she is currently researching social capital in freelance leadership in the outdoor sector.

Over the past four months I’ve been working at Bluecoat Arts Centre with a group of volunteers on their Growing Creativity Project, which is helping people with learning difficulties and disabilities to reshape the Bluecoat Garden and create some unique artwork for the outdoors space.

[See image gallery at www.emilypitts.com]

The Bluecoat Arts Centre is situated in the heart of Liverpool in an 18th Century Unesco World Heritage and Grade One listed building.  The walled garden is a haven within the bustle of the city and I am fortunate to have been asked to take a lead on the growing creativity project.  The aims of the project are to help volunteers to stay active, to contribute, to learn, to connect and to take notice – The Five Ways to Wellbeing.

[See image gallery at www.emilypitts.com]

With this in mind we’ve been working on developing the garden into a more native place, with native plants replacing ones which were put in following redevelopment in 2008.

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At the same time we’ve developed some artwork which incorporates designs from the volunteers with people’s memories of the garden – there are people who have been coming here for over 30 years, so the garden sparks a lot of emotion in the heart of Liverpudlians.  The artwork is now being created and will be installed towards the end of October when we hope to hold an open event for you to come and see it.  If you have a memory of the Bluecoat, there’s still time for it to become part of our artwork – just pop into the Bluecoat and ask reception for a Growing Creativity Postcard to fill in.

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Drop it in the box on reception and wait for the magic to happen.  All will be revealed soon…….

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Congratulations to Jane, who produced some lovely drawings and worked hard to put into practise new techniques learned whilst on a school trip in the Dordogne, France.  She was really willing to try out new things and to develop her thinking and her skills in all areas.  She persevered and using a limited palate of materials that we had brought with us for this task, created the interesting image you see above.

The trip, which took place last month, in Beaulieu sur Dordogne, included visits out around the local area to sketch and observe the peculiarities of a provincial French town with seven young people from Oakwood High School in Salford.  As an accompanying artist I travelled with and stayed with the young people Sunday – Friday, incorporating a derive walk through the suburban landscape, sketching in cafes and developing work in response to the Fauve movement, looking particularly at colour and re-interpreting some of the ideas of the fauves using collage, with limited a self-imposed limited palette of resources, to inspire thought and questioning amongst the group and to stretch their thought processes whilst creating the work.  One of the things that worked particularly well was five-minute sketches.  The young people felt that this was something new they could try that was fun and brought different results that you don’t necessarily get when you work for a long period of time on a piece.  It can also help you to plan other drawings more easily and to see what the most important parts of a drawing might be.   Give it a try and let me know how it goes:  hello@emilypitts.com.

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The results of the competition and the sketch sessions were excellent, with a really wide range of thoughtful and exciting interpretations of the landscape of the town, which you will see from the pictures attached to the blog.  Aside from the work for the competition, the young people developed and particularly enjoyed the sketching sessions, more time for which will be incorporated into future trips.  Some young people chose to continue to sketch outside of our session times, finding it relaxing and quite a consuming activity.  Congratulations to everyone who took part and for working hard.

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Later this year I will be working with another small group of young people on a project focussing on Russian Constructivism/Rodchenko and Popova and bringing together creative, mathematical and construction skills to create another provocative and high quality collaborative artwork.

Here are just some of the images produced on this trip:

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I have been very fortunate to work with Groundwork Cheshire on a commission at their Grozone project since October.  The commission is an extended participatory project – working with volunteers and visitors to the Community Garden to create an arts trail using materials from the garden around the theme of Humans within our Landscape.

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At the first session we worked together on a creative ‘writing’ exercise (I did the writing and the volunteers did the creative!).  They produced a wonderful poem, which takes in all of the senses and the experience of being in the garden.

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Working with each volunteer individually at different times, I helped them to incorporate their ideas of creativity into a coherent plan, using parts of the garden that were disused and also bringing horticulture and ecology into the plan.

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What has developed is an evolving series of works including:

• A Willow Cloud suspended between two trees
• A Storytelling Circle with suspended wooden glocks (Almost finished!)
• An Entrance Wall with a poetry puzzle (still in progress!)
• A Silver Birch Spider fungus sculpture
• A stacked wooden staircase (Still in progress)

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Volunteers have worked really hard to develop ideas and to help shape the garden and the arts trail, as you will see from the photographs.

[See image gallery at www.emilypitts.com]