Barriers to women in the UK construction industry

Abstract

Purpose -This paper aims to identify the main barriers that lead to the under-representation of women in the UK construction industry. The study, funded by ConstructionSkills, seeks to explore the issues that women face and investigate the potential positive impact that continuous professional development (CPD) may have upon improving the retention and career progression of women. Design/methodology/approach -The study uses an open-ended grounded theory (GT) approach, including 231 semi-structured questionnaires and nine focus groups with women from a range of professional occupations. All the findings were analysed using keyword analysis to identify the top two barriers that women face, alongside a series of cross-cutting key themes and issues. Findings -The findings reveal that male-dominated organisational cultures and inflexible working practices are the main barriers to women in the UK construction industry, irrespective of job role or profession. This paper concludes by arguing for a sea-change in the expansion of CPD opportunities for women in managerial, confidence and communication based skills, with accompanying networking and support systems to facilitate the retention and advancement of women in the industry sector. Research limitations/implications -Due to the research approach, the data are not generalisable. Therefore, researchers are advised to research and test the findings with a larger group. Researchers are also recommended to investigate the impact of expanded CPD opportunities for both men and women. Originality/value -The paper puts forward a business case for the advancement of specific CPD training for women, to facilitate the expansion of equality and diversity in the workforce in the UK construction industry.

Managing and Controlling Airport Construction Projects: A Strategic Management Framework for Operators

“…However, the findings indicate a very low female participation rate (6.67%). This fact supports various studies, as mentioned in the literature review, confirming that the construction industry is typically male-dominated (Agapiou, 2002;Loosemore et al, 2003;Worrall et al, 2010). In total, 68% of those interviewed had managed five or more construction projects in different airports.…”

“…Several studies (for example, Agapiou, 2002;Worrall et al, 2010) reported that this characteristic applies to almost every level of the construction sector from operational level, where site workers and other individuals operate on professional and managerial levels.…”

Perceptions of status and TMO workgroup cooperation: implications for project governance

“…The gender composition of the sample was 135 male and 5 female participants. The proportion of women managers in the sample (about 4%) compares reasonably well with the total proportion of women employed in the Hong Kong construction sector (about 9%, see Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, 2011) and in the construction sectors of other developed countries such as Australia (about 13%, see Francis, 2010) and the UK (about 10%, see Worrall et al, 2010). The survey and data examination procedures, as described below, provide further methodological and empirical reasons to believe that the analysis sample was not biased.…”

Measurement and Antecedents of Cooperation in Construction

“…| r | < 0.20) and statistically non-significant (p > 0.10), thus providing adequate proof that social desirability bias ("faking good") is not a problem in this study (Mitchell and Jolley, 2001). The proportion of women managers in the sample (about 4%) compares favorably with the total proportion of women employed in the Hong Kong construction sector (about 9%; Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, 2011) and in the construction sectors of other developed countries such as Australia (about 13%; Francis, 2010) and the UK (about 10%; Worrall et al, 2010). The final analysis sample of 140 cases can, thus, be considered to be fairly representative of the target population and suitable for the subsequent analyses.…”