Challenges and solutions for women in construction industry related disciplines: a literature review

Abstract

The construction industry has been male dominated for a long time, making it challenging for women to enter or advance in their careers. Despite significant reserves and initiatives by governments, organisations, construction, and researchers, the industry still has a significant gender gap, with women being underrepresented both in terms of numbers and seniority. Although many studies have been conducted into the education, recruitment, and retention of women in the industry, the reasons for their underrepresentation are still not fully understood. Efforts to attract and retain women in construction have been implemented unevenly on an ad hoc basis. This study aims to examine the challenges that women face while developing their careers in the construction industry-related disciplines and provide solutions to mitigate those challenges. Moreover, this study seeks to investigate the challenges and solutions through an extensive literature review. This literature review has exposed that extreme and inflexible work hours, gendered culture and informal rules, limited career development opportunities, and undesirable perceptions of women’s abilities are the main factors and problems that cause women to leave the construction industry. Moreover, considering solutions to overcome challenges in the career of women in construction mainly by training, targeting women in recruitment, developing new skills, mentoring, strong industry partnerships to create female-friendly work experiences and improved policies. This study would be beneficial for the government, construction organisations, and women who are willing to work in the construction industry-related disciplines.