Bowen, P; Edwards, P; Lingard, H and Cattell, K (2011) Workplace harassment and discrimination for South African construction professionals. In: Egbu, C and Lou, E C W (eds.) Proceedings of 27th Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2011, Bristol, UK.
Abstract
Workplace harassment and discrimination negatively affect the wellbeing of workers. An opinion survey of professionals working in the South African construction industry was carried out to explore their experiences of harassment and discrimination, and to determine whether or not gender and ethnicity play a significant part in unacceptable workplace behaviours perpetrated by line managers and colleagues. Data from 676 professional architects, civil engineers, quantity surveyors and project and construction managers were collected. While the overall levels of harassment and discrimination were not found to be high, the negative experiences of women and professionals in ethnic groups other than white were significantly more frequent than those reported by White males. The findings suggest that professional firms in the construction industry, assisted by professional associations, should take a more active stance in adopting policies against harassment and discrimination, and in implementing procedures to discourage and penalise such behaviours.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | discrimination; harassment; job stress; South Africa |
| Index terms: | ethnic group, survey, civil engineer, quantity surveying, discrimination, construction industry, South Africa, line manager, construction professional, well-being, job stress, construction manager, architect, women |
| Subjects: | profession, data collection methods, mental health and wellbeing, practitioner, demography, sociology, industry analysis, professional ethics, management, Geography, professional development |
| Topics: | Human Resources, Urban Studies, Legal Issues, Roles and Professions, Information Management, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Health and Safety |
| 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