THE GROUND UP by Dr Christina Scott-Young, RMIT University

REBUILDING THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY’S CULTURE FROM THE GROUND UP

- fostering change through research-led education of future construction professionals

by Dr Christina Scott-Young

Associate Professor, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University, Melbourne

The construction industry has been slow to embrace gender diversity and inclusion and to support the emotional and physical health of its workers. There are examples of exemplary companies that are leading the necessary reforms for an enlightened 21st century workplace where employees can thrive. However, our research shows that there is still a long way to go. My colleagues Associate Professors Sarah Holdsworth, Michelle Turner and I work in the School of Property, Construction and Project Management at RMIT University, preparing the next generation of construction professionals. As university researchers and teachers, we are attempting to facilitate change in the construction industry from the bottom up, beginning with the future pipeline of emerging construction professionals. For the past six years we have been conducting research to identify strategic solutions to improve the industry’s culture. Our early research took a preventative approach by identifying the qualities that employees require to survive in challenging work conditions. To better prepare the next generation of construction professionals to work in this demanding industry, we have been developing their resilience through the adoption of effective selfcare practices. We have found that students who engage in protective behaviours such as managing stress, maintaining perspective, staying healthy and creating strong support networks show higher levels of resilience, better mental health and are less likely to experience burnout. Our most recent study of women working in trades and semi-skilled roles in construction confirmed that bolstering employees’ resilience is essential if they are to succeed in demanding environments. Our second stream of research is concerned with identifying ways to retain trades and semi-skilled women in the construction industry. To date, much of the research on gender inequality in the construction industry has focused on women in professional and management roles with very few studies on women who work onsite. Our most recent study was supported by a research grant as part of the Victorian Strategy in Construction Strategy: Building Gender Equality. Our research explored how companies can create an inclusive and adaptive workplace to support women and retain them in the industry. 168 women working in trades and semi-skilled roles completed our online survey to assess their perception of workplace psychosocial safety climate, civility and respect, supervisor support, workfamily conflict and individual resilience. Most of the participants worked in the commercial sector (63%), with a smaller proportion working in the civil (20%) and domestic (12%) construction sectors. Interviews were later conducted with 43 women to explore, in greater detail, the challenges they faced and to understand how these issues affected their wellbeing. We found that women’s experiences in the construction workplace were varied. All the women we interviewed expressed passion for construction, regardless of the treatment they had experienced onsite. Some had only ever worked in extremely positive environments with supportive employers and co-workers. However, almost one third of the

Our most recent study of women working in trades and semi-skilled roles in construction confirmed that bolstering employees’ resilience is essential if they are to succeed in demanding environments.

interviewed women had experienced gender-based harassment, ranging from discrimination to alleged sexual assault. Many women felt they were outsiders and were treated differently to men. Some women reported that hyper-masculine cultures enabled inappropriate male behaviour that was consequencefree. Often there was a culture of silence and women feared punishment for reporting bad behaviour. A sizable proportion of women experienced career pathway challenges and difficulty in accessing work aligned with their skills and aptitude. Many women also faced barriers around managing family responsibilities and caring for their children. A surprising number observed that the only way they could maintain the careers they loved was to remain partnerless and childless. Women reported a lack of formal and informal support structures, programs, and strategies to support them to thrive in their workplace. In response to this industry gap, a number of resourceful construction women have developed their own grassroots online communities of practice for mutual support. We found seventeen such groups around Australia that are supporting women working in the industry, promoting construction to attract more women into the industry, raising the employment profile of women and connecting them with jobs. These member-led support groups provide much needed spaces for women in construction to connect, affirm each other’s value in the industry and provide mentoring and training opportunities for their professional development. Our research revealed systemic issues relating to gender and inclusion at all levels of the construction ecosystem. Aside from having a serious impact on wellbeing, failure to provide a safe workplace for women contravenes occupational health and safety legislation and regulations. For meaningful and sustained improvement in gender equality, we recommend an integrated ‘systemwide saturation’ approach which enforces zero tolerance of inappropriate behaviour towards women. A systemwide approach is needed to focus on changing the workplace by reducing or removing stressors rather than requiring women to cope with hostile workplaces. Sustained change which supports women in construction will only occur if interventions to address gender inequality are: i. genuinely supported at board and senior management level; ii. targeted at implementing change across the entire construction industry ecosystem; and iii. monitored, reported and audited. All who work in construction are aware that creating cultural change is a challenging task. Our research has motivated us to attempt to bring about industry change at the front-end through educating the future generations of construction professionals and managers. We have begun to share our research findings with our undergraduate and master’s students which is generating spirited classroom discussions. We are using our findings to raise students’ awareness of diversity and inclusion issues and to encourage them to become part of the solution. We discuss how as future employees they can join forces with like-minded colleagues to bring about grassroots change at their own worksites. Our aim is that the new generations of construction professionals will enter the workforce eager and equipped to add their support to those already in the industry who are committed to long overdue construction culture change.

Women in Construction: Exploring the Barriers and Supportive Enablers of Wellbeing in the Workplace The report, Women in Construction: Exploring the Barriers and Supportive Enablers of Wellbeing in the Workplace, was authored by RMIT’s Sarah Holdsworth, Michelle Turner, Christina Scott-Young and Kara Sandri. To find out more visit https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/media-releases-and-expertcomments/2021/feb/women-in-construction-report