Attracting And Retaining Women Professionals In Construction: A Work-Stress Management Perspective

Construction is one of the most male-dominated industries and excessive work stress is blamed for its failure to attract and retain women professionals. This research investigates the causes of excessive work stress experienced by women construction professionals and their impacts on the psychological wellbeing of women professionals. An online questionnaire survey was conducted in the Australian construction industry, in which 119 responses were obtained from female construction professionals. Descriptive statistics were first computed to rank causes of work stress for women construction professionals, which revealed that the topmost causes are: time pressure, excessive workload and long work hours. The t-test analyses were then conducted to compare the psychological wellbeing of this cohort with the Australian general population and it was found that female construction professionals suffer significantly higher depression, anxiety and acute stress. Finally, correlation analyses were performed to investigate the associations between the stressors and psychological health issues among female construction professionals; 10 out of 38 stressors studied showed significant correlations with the psychological health issues. The findings inform construction organisations of management and employment aspects that they need to revisit for creating more conducive work environments and cultures that support attracting and retaining women professionals