Persistence of Women in the Construction Industry

Abstract

The construction industry, traditionally male-dominated, faces notable turnover among women. The rise in female graduates compared with their low industry retention highlights a need for systemic changes to create a more inclusive and equitable environment. This study focuses on the attributes and experiences of women in construction and recognizes the critical need for systemic changes within the industry to foster a more inclusive and equitable environment. This study examined the personal attributes of women in construction and the organizational factors of their workplaces that influenced women’s persistence in the industry. Participants were classified as persisters or nonpersisters and responded to 101 statements categorized into 14 scales that measured personal and organizational factors identified in the available literature. Responses from persisters (n=108) and nonpersisters (n=20) were compared using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), ANOVA, and logistic regression models. The study acknowledges a limitation in its statistical power due to a smaller sample size of nonpersisters (n=20), with a power analysis indicating 68% power for hypothesis testing. Despite this limitation, significant findings were observed, such as indicating that women with a higher degree of career resilience were significantly more likely to persist in the industry [adjusted odds ratio (aOR)=6.82; p=0.01], whereas women with high organizational self-efficacy were significantly less likely to persist (aOR=0.05; p=0.01). These findings suggest that resilience may be an effective intervention target to increase women’s retention in the construction industry. The findings offer fresh insights and have significant implications for industry practices and policies, paving the way for more inclusive and equitable workplace environments in construction. Future research should aim to deepen our understanding of these dynamics and help develop targeted interventions to support women’s sustained participation in the construction industry.