Balancing the Female Identity in the Construction Industry
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Abstract
The fundamental rights of equity and justice call for a balance in the identity of both males and females in every sector. In spite of several strategies aimed at increasing women engagement, the female identity is still blurred in the construction workplace scenery. The study evaluated measures to balancing the female identity in the construction industry. The dataset was obtained through a questionnaire instrument of 105 women in the construction industry. The data were presented using stacked bars, cross tabulation/mean score, principal component analysis (PCA) and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The study revealed that anti-feminine characteristics exist in the industry in form of work growth gap, position/pay gap and symbolic intimidation. The study showed that there is the need for attitudinal changes in the bullying culture and the sexual orientation towards co-workers. Strategies to balance the female identity can be achieved at the national level, construction organisation level, union level and client level. In conclusion, the female identity can be balanced in the construction industry by encouraging adequately funded female mentors/role model programmes. The study recommended that beyond legislation, the onus is on women to inspire women. In order to attract, retain women and reduce the anti-feminine characteristics in the construction sector, there is a need for female mentors/role models to be actively engaged. Strategies and approaches that can alter a female-biased attitude need to be engaged in the minds of construction professionals.
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