Sunindijo, R Y and Kamardeen, I (2017) Work stress is a threat to gender diversity in the construction industry. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 143(10): 04017073, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
The construction industry is missing out on numerous performance gains derived from gender diversity. Its reputation for excessive work stress, resulting in poor psychological health, is among the reasons for women not entering the industry or for them leaving the industry prematurely. Using an online questionnaire survey, this research investigated whether women professionals in the construction industry differ from their men colleagues in the stressors faced at work and the degree of work-related psychological injuries suffered. The respondents comprised 167 men and 110 women professionals working in the Australian construction industry. The results reveal that: (1) women professionals suffer more anxiety and acute stress symptoms than men professionals, but no significant difference is apparent between the genders in the level of depression suffered; (2) the top 10 stressors at work facing construction professionals are the same for both genders, with time pressure, excessive workload, long work hours, and unpleasant work environment being the critical issues; and (3) women professionals experience more discrimination, bullying, and sexual harassment. The research contributes to practice by identifying aspects that need improvements for making the construction industry gender diverse and sociopsychologically sustainable.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Australia; construction professionals; gender diversity; labor and personnel issues; work health safety and well-being; work stress |
| Index terms: | Australia, critical issue, depression, construction industry, construction professional, women, work environment, survey, workload, personnel, stressors, work stress, injury, discrimination, psychological health, well-being, anxiety, questionnaire |
| Subjects: | management, professional development, Geography, sociology, health conditions and diseases, industry analysis, professional ethics, mental health and wellbeing, risk assessment, data collection methods, psychology |
| Topics: | Health and Safety, Information Management, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Risk Management, Legal Issues, Human Resources, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here