Montague, A M (2017) Investigating women entrepreneurs in construction and their sense of belonging in a male dominated industry: A multiple-case study. DBA thesis, Northcentral University, USA.
Abstract
Economically, women business owners are growing at the fastest rate of business owner segments within the United States. From 1997 to 2007, women business owners experienced double the growth of other business segments. During this same time they represented one-third of privately held firms. Construction firms in the United States account for $1. 7 trillion in receipts annually. Of the 729,000 construction firms in the US, women are at least a 51% owner of 8% of them. The construction industry is male-dominated and functions within a culture that operates on networking and mentoring. Indeed, the ability of construction business owners to achieve success is heavily dependent on the relationships built within the business culture. For this reason, women are viewed as outsiders. There was minimal data about women entrepreneurs’ ability to obtain a sense of belonging in male-dominated occupations. Thus, this qualitative multiple case study research design explored the actions taken by five women-owned construction firms in Virginia to overcome their minority status within an industry that is deeply rooted in masculine culture. The following research questions were addressed: How do women entrepreneurs feel their gender affects their sense of belonging in a male-dominated industry? What do women entrepreneurs do to overcome gendered expectations? Which actions do they take to achieve acceptance? The findings indicated that women in construction feel that their gender does impact their ability to gain acceptance because it isolates them from an “all-boys club,” helps create a niche for them within industry and at times, makes them feel invisible to industry participants. The findings also revealed that women achieve acceptance through identity switching, assertiveness and confidence. Application of this study and further research could help to create a norm for women to flourish and grow in an industry that provides higher income revenue than most firms traditionally created by women entrepreneurs. Additionally, it is necessary to aid policymakers in creating programs that help more women qualify to be eligible to pursue construction contracts.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Hipsher, S |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | United States; case study; construction firms; culture; gender; income; occupations; owner; women; women in construction |
| Index terms: | construction industry, identity, construction contract, minority, women, income, owner, research design, case study, mentoring, program, revenue, construction firm, occupation, networking, United States, business culture |
| Subjects: | software systems, industry analysis, sociology, data collection methods, research design and methodology, communication, Geography, organization, contract type, economic analysis, training |
| Topics: | Ethics, Geographical Context, Procurement, Human Resources, Digital Applications, Organizational Design, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions |
| 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