Sunindijo, R Y and Kamardeen, I (2017) Attracting and retaining women professionals in construction: A work-stress management perspective. In: Chan, P W and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 33rd Annual ARCOM Conference, 4-6 September 2017, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, UK.
Abstract
Research argues that gender diversity in the construction industry has the potential to improve corporate social responsibility, foster novel solutions leading to radical innovation, increase productivity, reduce the occurrence of conflicts and improve financial performance. Nonetheless, the construction industry is still one of the most male-dominated industries and is missing out on attracting and retaining the best women talents that can actually improve its overall performance. Several reasons are pointed out as to why the construction industry does not attract and retain women. The poor image of the industry, such as macho culture, conflict-laden work environments and sexism, is stopping women from entering the industry. Similarly, excessive work stress and burnout are blamed as the primary reasons for women to leave the industry. Curtailing these phenomena is critical if the construction industry wishes to reap the productivity, profit and innovation gains derived from the presence of a reasonable proportion of women professionals in the industry. Understanding the dynamics of work stress facing women professionals is fundamental to the development of suitable countermeasures. To this end, this research aims to investigate the severity of work-related psychological illnesses suffered by women construction professionals and their causes. An online questionnaire survey was conducted in the Australian construction industry and inferential statistical analyses such as t-tests and correlational analyses were carried on the survey data. The findings show that women professionals in construction considered high level of time pressure, excessive workload, and long work hours as the topmost causes of work-related stress. They were strongly correlated to the occurrence of mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, and stress. The findings could help construction organisations to implement more conducive work environments and cultures to support and retain women professionals in the industry.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction industry, gender diversity, women professionals, work health safety and wellbeing, work stress |
| Index terms: | anxiety, presence, work environment, questionnaire, women, well-being, construction professional, financial performance, dynamics, mental health, construction industry, corporate social responsibility, depression, work stress, construction organization, burnout, survey, statistical analysis, profit, workload, illness, productivity |
| Subjects: | business analysis, management, professional development, health safety and environment, health conditions and diseases, sociology, occupational health and safety management, systems engineering, industry analysis, mental health and wellbeing, organization, data collection methods, psychology, economic analysis, data science, environmental science |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Research Practice, Information Management, Engineering Principles, Sustainability, 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