The construction industry is defined “as one that employs workers in two primary categories. First comprises of the managers and professionals who plan, organize, advise on specialist functions or field activities involved in executing projects. The second category is construction trades, who construct, fit, finish, maintain and repair internal and external structures of domestic, commercial and install building and civil construction (Employment Service, 1990; as cited in Fielden et al., 2000).

The construction industries have been growing adversaries in the way it is working. So many questioned lie the poor working practices, lack of reputation for underperformance, environmental insensitivity and the sector has been developing adversaries’ business relationships (Construction Industry Board, 1996). Construction industry itself came to acknowledge that the industry has been underrepresented by women. CIB gave out a report citing that the minimal numbers in the construction industry remained unclear and was shocked by the employment service list that was presented to the Board. Women remain underrepresented in the construction thus suffering both organizational and occupational segregation.

2)   Current cultural norms, values and beliefs

Trade unions, women’s organizations and government have put more concern on overcoming attitudinal and institutional discrimination that acts as a barrier to women from advancing on with their development while gender discrimination is renewed daily at international conferences (Kolade & Kehinde, 2013). The two scholars explained the concept of “glass ceiling” where they said that women are women seem to progress further in their careers, but they find it difficult to achieve them due to sexual discrimination ( Morrison & Von Glinow, 1990).

Morgan (1998) described glass ceiling as a situation whereby women and men starts their career at the same rate but later on at some point when they progress on with life they won’t move ahead in their career progression. As noted by Kolade & Kehinde (2013) the construction industry is not a male dominated field but it is devoid of women. There are many studies that give evidence about the barriers of females from entering the construction industry (Agapiou, 2002; Whittock, 2002; Wangle 2009; Fielden et al. 2001). Among the reasons that they discovered include sexually discriminated jobs, sexually inappropriate, social acceptances of employment, image and reputation, prejudice, sexual harassment, lack of training, physical incapability and labor conditions.

The construction industry’s image is male dominated with mind or believe being cultivated when one is a child to adulthood. Therefore, this means that recruitment, procedures and practices happen in favor of the men. The factors are agitated by the sexist attitudes; the working environment and male dominated cultures. These cultures remain to showcase that males are better placed in the construction industry than their female counterparts who are less capable of performing such duties (Gale, 1994). Guidelines have been put by the construction Industry Board to foster equality and recommending favorable policies, but the sector may not change so much in the future since opportunities not seem to support the women (Construction Industry Board, 1996b).

According to the research done by various scholars such as (Fielden et al., 2001) showed that there are so many barriers that prevent women from entering the construction industry workforce. Among them is the terms and conditions of the workers, image and reputation, lack of training and other prejudices.

According to the findings, many women respondents complained that the industry was male dominated, and therefore workers were seen as fly or cowboys. The finding suggested that when women entered into the industry they were asked many questions such as “when are going to get the right job?” The study noted that children at early ages neglects the work and suggest in the work you wake up very early, and the job might be hard work. The industry’s poor image if fuelled by television programs such as World in Action and Boys from the Blackstuff. Many respondents said that the poor image of the company through poor quality of information that career advisers have been giving to the children. They set high yardsticks for one to attain in order to enter the industry, but the work itself is very demanding (Fielden et al., 2001).

It is acknowledged in the wider context that women face discrimination and stereotyping in the recruitment process (Women in the Leadership, 2008; Hossain and Kusake, 2005; Wage Gap Reduction Initiative, 2007). They noted that recruitment acts as a significant barrier of women entrance in the construction industry. They found that many employers who prefer men for jobs that are tedious, dirty and hazardous with long hours in the work. Women are perceived to be lazy and burdened with a lot of work and hence they cannot endure this kind of environment.

Workers in the construction industry complained that the working condition in the industry was unbearable and destitute. Reports showed that the industry failed to provide pensions, decent salaries and other staff benefits. The again was noted to have a high no of unemployed people posing a threat about the dangers of job insecurity (Fielden et al., 2001). In the industry, it was observed that women earn less compared to their male counterparts something that translates to poor living conditions of women in the workforce. The findings also suggested that the male-dominated industry face poor health and safety records that deter young people to come because they perceive it as too dangerous. The unhealthy working conditions more especially during winter times make the industry seem unattractive to many young people aspiring to enter the industry (Fielden et al., 2001).

Participants in male dominated group said that the construction industry felt that the company was characterized by lack of training. On the other hand, women-only group argued that they were more concerned with the industry’s limited attempts to attract more women for industrial jobs. To enter the industry and put the blame to the Construction Industry Training Board not to have made proactive measures to improve on that condition (Fielden et al., 2001).

Prejudice dominated the construction industry and those who never qualified the prejudice were bound to suffer. In many occasions, it was found that the black and other minority candidates didn’t get jobs even though they seem to be overqualified for the job. Regional prejudice wasn’t behind, and a contractor said that they cannot recruit people from a particular region because they were not hardworking thus having poor grades hence not fit for recruitment. Some inclined their argument that young people had a poor attitude towards construction industry jobs. The young focus on short-term rewards and did not focus on the long-term vision required them to take several years of training despite the salaries were so low (Fielden et al., 2001).

The women only group also suggested that women had fewer opportunities to develop practical skills hence they were unaware of their ability to do construction jobs. It has been on the increase because women lack their role models in the industry; many of them were trained to take up professional courses such as teaching and other administrative jobs. They were discouraged by their parents and friends as they saw the job as a male dominated one (Fielden et al., 2001).

3)   Current Human Resource practices that explain the relative representation of women

Women have minimal representation in the construction industry. As more and more women begin taking leadership positions in organizations, it has been established that a number of consistencies exist in the promotion of women into the top position of a firm (Jonsen et al., 2006). Accordingly, the study conducted by Jonsen, 2006 with the hope of assessing the validity of these views as evident in the United Kingdom. Through surveys with prominent women in different organizations, it was determined that these thoughts are relevant in many organizations. For example, some firms have human resource departments that do not fit these categories. At the same time, a distinctive disconnect was assessed between the HR programs an organization has structured and those mechanisms that the females felt they would benefit most form. The findings show that there is the general lack of communication among HR officers and the employees.

Gender disparities, stereotypes and wage inequalities have always existed to bar women from ascending in an organization today as they did some twenty years ago. Bono and Anderson, 2005 argue that there exists differences between transformational women and transactional men.

A study conducted by Jonsen, Maznevski and Schneider (2009) showed that organizations consider the role of gender in three ways: the gender-blind view, the perception creates reality view and the gender-conscious view. According to the research, HR practises influence the idealism in which the organization is hedged to.

According to the gender-conscious paradigm, there exists no significant difference between men and women, and both deserve equal treatment. The view lays emphasis on the difference between the two sexes by seeking to change the standards of evaluation for both men and women. The view argues that using the same criteria to gauge both sexes, creates a scare among women who fear that they cannot be considered in roles due to negative evaluations. The model concerning the principles of changing that is assessed in regard to women in order to reflect their competencies. Carli (1999) is of the view that the females are gauged more coldly when directive styles of leadership are employed while their male counteracts are in a position to use a variety of techniques. Based on the fact that women are at higher levels, it is easy to claim that women do outperform men for them to be given equal chances because the valuation for what constitutes competence in females is higher than in the males. As a result of this, the evaluating method will help level the ground by measuring competency of either gender based on their inherent abilities (Carli, 1999).

The second paradigm ‘perception creates reality view’ does not recognize the distinction between women and men with the hope of educating the employees that distinctions are non-existent. As a result, the actual differences are products of stereotyping by individuals. Adams, Gupta and Leeth (2007) claimed to have witnessed theses stereotypes in their workplaces. Their research found that irrespective of the prevailing market conditions, the women are only appointed to the top positions only after showing a good track record as compared to the men. Thus according to the study, most directors feel comfier when the males are the cream of the organisation. During economic upheavals, only men are promoted to decision-making levels because women cannot be entrusted to bring the company back to profit making levels.

The perception by HR personnel that an effective leader is the one that demonstrates male personalities is vague (Campbell, 2002). That there is an overlap in people’s minds between leadership qualities and masculinity. The stereotype that men are decisive, argentic and competent, portraying them as natural leaders. Unknowingly, this notion of men being natural leaders creates bottlenecks for women since both men and women view the males as natural born leaders. A study by Alice Eagly and Linda Carli (2007) shows that shared set of rational and irrational mentalities about leadership and gender leads to the discrimination of women in leadership roles. Campbell is of the opinion that the HR goals need structuring in a way that the goals create an open culture where women can freely express their dynamic leadership qualities with no ado.

The lack of women in top management is an issue of gender bias portrayed by HR policies particularly in valuations. In some instances the women are denied credit for the success they offer to the organisation (Heilman, 2001). Since managerial positions hedge upon the male sex, the evaluation for such posts is skewed to evaluate male-centered attributes that inhibit women from getting recognition for their tireless efforts.

The final paradigm is the gender blind view. The research focuses on the struggles to the edge of the organisation based on the path since both women and men in this category are believed to manage tin the same fashion. According to this perception, providing the women a chance in the workplace is the best thing to do, basing on the number of women that have entered the workplace in the recent times. The company stands to benefit from employing a large pool of the total labor force, by following the trend that women should constitute half the total number of the employees (Helfart, Harris and Wolfson, 2006). Their research concluded that of the 100 companies sampled in the report, only 50% of the companies stuck to the 50-50 thumb up rule.

4)   Nature of the work involved

The construction industry is a hustle and bustle of activities whose contribution to the economy is enormous. In the scope of the construction industry, success is measured depending on the business volume. While this trait may indicate the importance of a construction company in its predefined market, breaking even is a more relevant determinant of success. The sole pursuit of quantity without a significant increase in profitability places the financial viability of the business at jeopardy.

The UK construction industry is a very dynamic environment that is highly fragmented as per the market conditions (Barthorpe, Duncan and miller, 2000). According to wolstentholme (2009) the structure of the industry is dominated by small and medium enterprises, In Fact, the industry resembles the market-oriented companies who focus on product rather than client needs (Cameron and Quinn, 2006).The segmentations are attributed to the many traders in the industry. The short-run contract based roles, as well as the fact that the industry directs greater effort on profit over client needs and at the same time placing emphasis on gaining short-term contracts that are highly competitive. (Dainty, Grugulis and Langfor, 2007). The industry is predominantly masculine in nature because the sector is inherently male dominated with worker placement done in an apparently competitive and unsupportive environment. Consequently, this tends to exacerbate the image of the industry both within the borders and on the international front (Latham, 1994). Gale (1992) argues that this damages the industry since it deters minorities like females from entering the industry.

According to Dainty et al. (2007), giant construction companies have changed tactics to now employing workers on a contract basis, with few opting to employ on permanent terms. An accolade can be given to the few firms that have in the wake of the years 2010 and 2011 won the queen’s award for enterprise as a sign of honor for their effort in ensuring gender parity economy with ethnical diversity and career advancement opportunities at the workplace.

DFEE, 2000 attempted to investigate the profile of both current and future skills demand and reported an increase in soft skill staff comprising of managers, professional and customer-oriented staff. The industry also recorded a decline in skilled manual workers with a fair increase in semi-skilled manual laborers. A trend associated with a shift towards prefabrication means of production. Dainty et al. (2005) claims that shortages of soft skilled workers were as acute as those in the manual sector of the industry. Problems in skills are manifest in the lack of skills, the shortage happen when the demand for skills in a given sector outruns supply of the needed specialists resulting to difficulties in recruitment (Harrison, 2005)

On the other hand, skills gap skills gap is the deficiency of skills in an employer’s workforce, resulting to voids in the competence of existing workers, leading to slags in performance, safety and quality (ONS,2002, DFEE,2000; LSC, 2005). The industry is thus trying to fix this gap in the short run by employing employees from low-wage nations, instead of recognizing the long-run business advantage of attempting the recruitment of female workers (Gurjao, 2006). Though there has been a significant increase in the number of women and colored people joining the industry, it is only in line with the general growth of the construction industry. However, in reality, diversity-based recruitment percentiles have remained unchanged, ranging of between 9 to 13 percent of women and 2-5 percent of the colored people since the year 1991. The low count of women in the industry lie in contrast with the current recommended standard of 46% for the females and 8% for the colored people (Construction skills, 2008).

Chan and Dainty (2007) favour a conceptual move directed to a knowledge-based economy founded upon standards of lifelong learning to reduce the skills shortage. Contrary, they pit out that the structure of the construction industry is inhibiting progress due to the small firms that make comprise the huge majority of employers in the industry. At the same time, the labour market and fiscal policies have expended little effort to safeguard the industry’s long-term skill provision and sustainability.

In the Nigerian context, Abdullahi (2007) argues in a purely patriarchal society the males dominate all spheres of the women’s lives. Consequently, the social relations of both sexes are governed by patriarchal socialization systems and cultural beliefs that are in favour of male interests but against those of the females. As a result, women access to leadership and administrative positions are hampered by culturally predefined gender roles for the sexes (Olojede, 2004: Olowe, 2001). There is the underrepresentation of women in leadership and administrative positions as compared to their male counterparts’ worldwide (Tai et al., 2005)

Initiatives towards Promoting Equality of Opportunities in the Construction Industry

To address this aspect of women underrepresentation in the construction industry it is good to focus on women awareness about the construction jobs. Women are required to be encouraged to take up construction roles. It should be done when they are in primary schools up to management and university levels (Fielden et al., 2001).

Women are supposed to take the initiative of ensuring that they training in construction studies. It is acceptable that contractors are supposed to have high and quality education, unlike the low-level contractors. Women are encouraged to make applications for jobs in the construction industry the moment they have completed their education or training.

Employment and retention of the workers should be encouraged as many employers tend to fire its staff at early stages of recruitment. Retention with additional trainings will make the women achieve more and progress in their profession.

Many participants in (Fielden et al., 2001) noted that the number of women representation in the construction industry will be more if the construction industry will introduce adjustable working hours. It will enable them women to attend their domestic chores at the same working.

There should be policies and procedures that will focus on equal opportunities designed to increase women representation in the construction industry. Contractors also are supposed to train subcontractors for quality purposes and to promote women to ascend into senior construction jobs.

Women should be encouraged to extend their influence in the construction industries. They should stay in those positions when senior so their young ones to get encouraged.

Conclusion

Women are supposed to show up in the construction industry as a means of equal representation in the employment sector, in particular construction sector. The paper has explored the possible reasons that deter the women in joining the construction industries and ways to revert that scenario. Women are equal to men in terms of academic qualifications and capability, but they are constrained by social, cultural beliefs in regard to the construction industry jobs.

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