Inequalities in the Exercise and Continuity in Building Engineering in Spain. Factor Analysis Including Gender Perspective

Abstract

The building sector is one of the most relevant at world level in view of the percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) concerned, as well as the number of new jobs created. Nevertheless, it is a completely male-dominated industry. Different institutions and organisms, such as the Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals, struggle to reduce gender inequality in different environments, including the working one. Aligned with these goals, this study provides the data exploited from the first survey regarding gender inequality within the professionals of the building engineering field in the Spanish population as a whole. This survey was developed in 2018 by the Spanish General Council of Technical Architecture and it was sent to its members. The sample involved 1353 cases. For this data mining, bivariate analyses were conducted in order to subsequently carry out a factor analysis and the socio–demographic composition of the dimensions found. Results exposed statistically meaningful differences in the eyes of women and men about those factors which facilitate practice and continuity in the profession. The most relevant conclusions drawn from the factor analysis reflect the existence of three factors: (1) work competences, (2) social capital and (3) physical appearance and being a man, dimensions in which women and men’s opinion was unevenly distributed.

Resistencia ante las políticas de igualdad de género en el sector español de la ingeniería de edificación

“…Women's unequal access to the labor market in the construction sector is increasingly under study in scientific literature in different countries (8), (10), (11), (17), (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30). These investigations share the vision of the construction sector as one of the labor markets being more associated with gender stereotypes.…”

“…Apart from the obstacles faced by women that hamper their entrance to the construction industry, there are other barriers met by female employees in this field throughout their professional careers (36), (38). These barriers hinder the exercise of their work, the fact of obtaining positions of power, and finally, their continuity in the sector ( 8), ( 28), (29). Among the most studied barriers, we could mention the incompatibility of the particular features of the sector (such as the lack of flexible working hours), the nomadic nature of site works, presenteeism, or long working hours together with domestic, and family responsibilities ( 8), (10), ( 20), ( 28), (36).…”