Gender Based Perception of Successful Construction of Project Managers’ Attributes

Project Managers (PMs) are assets for every construction enterprise. The PM’s personality is essential as it defines the way that PMs cooperate with the project team and thus influence drastically the project performance. The current research focused on identifying the way gender influences the perception of required PMs’ attributes. In this context, a survey questionnaire was administered over a five-year period. Research survey successfully recorded 497 responses from Greek engineers. The survey identified profile data regarding the respondents and the scores assigned to the desired characteristics of the PMs. Firstly, a database was organized in SPSS and was followed by descriptive statistics analysis, independent sample t -test and correlation analysis that succeeded in identifying the way that gender influences the perception of PMs’ personality characteristics. It was found that in general, female engineers have a different perspective on the attributes required for competent PM that their male counterparts do. Independent sample t -test and correlation analysis led to the same conclusions. More specifically, it became evident that female engineers tend to assign the highest Likert scale based scores (five), whereas male respondents tend to assign lower scores to all considered attributes. It is also worth mentioning that a significant amount of correlation appeared in the sample, significantly greater in number than the previous research initiatives. The most highly ranked abilities include: “Capability of Risk Evaluation”, “Promptness on Solution Provision” and “Collaborative—Team Spirit”. These attributes are anticipated due to the effects of the financial crisis on the implementation of construction projects in Greece.