Sex, Age, Work Experience, and Relatives in Building Engineering Career Development

Abstract

Women’s membership in Spanish building engineering professional bodies has increased in the last decade, but since women only make up a fifth of the total registration, the situation is far from equitable. Furthermore, job allocation is gendered, with work on site very much male dominated. This paper delves deeper into occupational segregation within building engineering. By means of a survey to 704 undergraduate university students in their final year of the Schools of Building Engineering in Andalusia (Spain), career barriers mostly perceived for different career categories are determined. Significant differences in perceptions according to gender, age, working experience, and relatives in the industry are identified. The results reveal that career barriers’ perception differs according to gender. Female students foresee a harder work scenario than males, especially in career paths directly related to work on site. Age, combined with gender, constitutes the sociodemographic variable showing most variations and becomes the key element of analysis. The career categories considered more accessible and those beyond reach are identified, considering the different variables chosen. This research offers a framework to reflect on the wide range of career barriers perceived by women as a group in the profession and warns of its possible impact on occupational segregation.