Balancing the Female Identity in the Construction Industry
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Universiti Sains Malaysia Press
Abstract
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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.
Keywords
TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering, TH Building construction