The engineering and construction sector in Australia is lagging in its efforts to boost female workforce participation, a leading academic has warned.

Speaking after the publication in the library of the American Society of Civil Engineers of a collaborative study between the University of Sydney and Queensland University of Technology which examined workplace relations practices in engineering and construction, the study’s lead author Dr Marzena Baker said the construction remains behind in its gender diversity efforts.

Drawing on Labor Force Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Baker points out that female participation across Australia’s construction labour force has remained stuck at around 12 percent since the 1990s.

Moreover, the sector is also failing to advance women into senior roles.

Across all industries, Baker says women make up 32 percent of key managers, 28.1 percent of company directors and 18 percent of CEOs.

In construction, only 2.7 percent of CEOs are women whilst women make up only 15.1 percent of key managers 11.1 percent of directors.

She says such trends are evident worldwide, where organisations in engineering and construction are persistently among the most male dominated.

“Although some women work in construction and building companies in Australia, very few are in management or leading roles,” Baker said.

“While the construction industry is attracting women, and women are studying engineering and project management at a tertiary level, very few of these candidates are being properly progressed once they enter the workforce.

“This is not for lack of desire or motivation but is due to organisational issues.”

According to the study, whereas organisations across most sectors are embracing programs and initiatives to improve diversity in senior management, the construction sector is lagging behind in this area.

It found that most organisational leaders within engineering and construction were unaware of practices within their organisation that lead to unfair gender discrimination.

Indeed, it found that many of the gender-based workplace equality and diversity initiatives which are in place throughout construction are based primarily around legal requirements.

Often, such approaches fail to understand structural and cultural inequalities and injustices within their organisations and do not deliver the kind of change which is needed.

Baker – who previously worked in construction on large-scale developments – says a tailored approach is needed.

Rather than ignoring demographics and treating all workers as the same, building companies should pursue specific programs to attract, retain and promote women.

Such initiatives, she says, are allowed under Commonwealth anti-discrimination laws and have been closely linked with greater numbers of women in management and across organisational levels.

Baker believes better supporting women will have multiple benefits.

“Australia is experiencing a construction skills shortage and rather than looking externally for workers – which is more difficult now due to the pandemic – we should look to increase workforce capacity by hiring and promoting women,” she said.

Employing and progressing more women would also cater to a widening range of customer needs and would increase innovation.”

The study drew on quantitative data from 4,841 annual equity reports relating to 2018/19 along with detailed interviews with senior leaders and organisational documents and reports from five organisations.