Lu, S L; Sexton, M G; Abbott, C and Jones, V (2008) Senior female managers in small construction firms within the North West of England: An update. In: Dainty, A (ed.) Proceedings of 24th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2008, Cardiff, UK.
Abstract
This paper providing an update on the results from an European Social Fund Project investigating "senior female managers in small construction firms within the North West of England." Initial research findings were presented at the 23rd ARCOM conference in 2007 (Lu et al., 2007a). It was indicated that the career decisions of female senior managers are a product of serendipitous circumstances and choices which produce idiosyncratic transitions and turning points in career progression. Moreover, these choices appear not to be affected by any externally driven agendas or realities, such as equality and diversity or construction image / culture considerations. The analysis of subsequent interviews has generally confirmed these findings, as well as crystallising the critical part senior female managers have in being a role model to encourage the recruitment and retention of women into the construction industry. It is the role model function which is reported here. The role appears to be differentiated into two parts: internal mentoring and protection of female staff within the SMEs; and, leadership in external, local business networks.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | career development model; female senior managers; role models; SMEs |
| Index terms: | manager, interview, England, role model, retention, conference, equality and diversity, small construction firm, career, women, construction industry, mentoring, recruitment |
| Subjects: | organization, research dissemination and communication, data collection methods, practitioner, training, management, professional development, Geography, sociology, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Human Resources, Roles and Professions, Business Strategy, Information Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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