IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jworld/v3y2022i3p38-691d908924.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Put Gender on the Tender in Australian Public Projects

Author

Listed:
  • Liyaning (Maggie) Tang

    (School of Architecture and Build Environment, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia)

  • Shaleeza Sohail

    (School of Information and Physical Sciences, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
    Program IT, King’s Own Institute, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia)

  • Emma Shorthouse

    (School of Architecture and Build Environment, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia)

  • Larissa Sullivan

    (Richard Crookes Construction, Broadmeadow, NSW 2064, Australia)

  • Matthew Williams

    (School of Architecture and Build Environment, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia)

Abstract

Australia’s construction industry throughout the last two decades has seen an increase in the number of women pursuing careers. The percentage it has increased by between 1998 and 2020 is a disappointing 0.2% despite the research, strategies, and initiatives the Australian Government has implemented during the interval. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and support the legislative notion of required gender percentages on tendering documents and how this change could increase the number of women in public projects. A systematic literature review of scholarly sources from the database Scopus was applied to develop a thematic analysis of women in the industry. The results found four themes: underrepresentation, barriers to career, education pathways, and opportunities for employment. These themes reinforced the need to introduce legislation such as gender requirements for public projects. Connections made were that gender legislation would increase the number of job opportunities, more jobs would encourage all levels of education to promote women in construction, more women in construction would improve their underrepresentation, and thus make women-centric problems in the workforce a more common issue and more likely to improve. The paper concludes that to see an increase in the number of women in Australia’s construction industry, the government must take enforceable legislative change. This change must start by creating legislation that requires organisations that want to tender with the government to have a minimum percentage of women in any proposed public works submission before it can be awarded.

Suggested Citation

  • Liyaning (Maggie) Tang & Shaleeza Sohail & Emma Shorthouse & Larissa Sullivan & Matthew Williams, 2022. "Put Gender on the Tender in Australian Public Projects," World, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-11, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jworld:v:3:y:2022:i:3:p:38-691:d:908924
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4060/3/3/38/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4060/3/3/38/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Donna Bridges & Elizabeth Wulff & Larissa Bamberry & Branka Krivokapic-Skoko & Stacey Jenkins, 2020. "Negotiating gender in the male-dominated skilled trades: a systematic literature review," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(10), pages 894-916, October.
    2. Rita Peihua Zhang & Sarah Holdsworth & Michelle Turner & Mary Myla Andamon, 2021. "Does gender really matter? A closer look at early career women in construction," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(8), pages 669-686, August.
    3. Natalie Galea & Abigail Powell & Martin Loosemore & Louise Chappell, 2015. "Designing robust and revisable policies for gender equality: lessons from the Australian construction industry," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(5-6), pages 375-389, June.
    4. Sandra Fielden & Marilyn Davidson & Andrew Gale & Caroline Davey, 2000. "Women in construction: the untapped resource," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 113-121.
    5. Murray, Rainbow, 2014. "Quotas for Men: Reframing Gender Quotas as a Means of Improving Representation for All," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 108(3), pages 520-532, August.
    6. Helen Lingard & Jasmine Lin, 2004. "Career, family and work environment determinants of organizational commitment among women in the Australian construction industry," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(4), pages 409-420.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Donna Bridges & Larissa Bamberry & Elizabeth Wulff & Branka Krivokapic‐Skoko, 2022. "“A trade of one's own”: The role of social and cultural capital in the success of women in male‐dominated occupations," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 371-387, March.
    2. Natalie Galea & Louise Chappell, 2022. "Male‐dominated workplaces and the power of masculine privilege: A comparison of the Australian political and construction sectors," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1692-1711, September.
    3. Donna Bridges & Elizabeth Wulff & Larissa Bamberry, 2023. "Resilience for gender inclusion: Developing a model for women in male‐dominated occupations," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 263-279, January.
    4. Wendy O’Brien & Clare Hanlon & Vasso Apostolopoulos, 2023. "Women as leaders in male‐dominated sectors: A bifocal analysis of gendered organizational practices," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(6), pages 1867-1884, November.
    5. Vera Hoelscher & Ratna Khanijou & Daniela Pirani, 2023. "Changing informal institutions via mimesis: Gender equality in marriage proposals," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 52-67, January.
    6. Fatma Lestari & Riza Yosia Sunindijo & Martin Loosemore & Yuni Kusminanti & Baiduri Widanarko, 2020. "A Safety Climate Framework for Improving Health and Safety in the Indonesian Construction Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-20, October.
    7. Irantzu Recalde-Esnoz & Daniel Ferrández & Carlos Morón & Guadalupe Dorado, 2021. "Inequalities in the Exercise and Continuity in Building Engineering in Spain. Factor Analysis Including Gender Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-18, May.
    8. Asa Romeo Asa & Navneel Shalendra Prasad, 2014. "Analysis on the Factors that Determine Sustainable Growth of Small Firms in Namibia," International Journal of Management Science and Business Administration, Inovatus Services Ltd., vol. 1(1), pages 5-11, December.
    9. Karekurve-Ramachandra, Varun, 2024. "Gender quotas and upward political mobility in India," SocArXiv 4zqve_v1, Center for Open Science.
    10. Zhang, Yixiang & Fu, Bowen, 2023. "Social trust contributes to the reduction of urban carbon dioxide emissions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    11. Aaron S. Howe & Joyce Lo & Sharan Jaswal & Ali Bani-Fatemi & Vijay Kumar Chattu & Behdin Nowrouzi-Kia, 2023. "Engaging Employers in Apprentice Training: Focus Group Insights from Small-to-Medium-Sized Employers in Ontario, Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-17, January.
    12. Yuvaraj Dhanasekar & Kaliyaperumal Sugirthamani Anandh & Mariusz Szóstak, 2023. "Development of the Diversity Concept for the Construction Sector: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-19, October.
    13. Küçüközkan, Yasemin, 2014. "Örgütsel Bağlılık ile Cinsiyet Arasındaki İlişki: Hastanelerde Çalışan Sağlık Personeli Üzerinde Bir Araştırma [Relation between Organizational Commitment and Gender: A Research on Health Care Staf," MPRA Paper 62746, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Natalie Galea & Abigail Powell & Fanny Salignac & Louise Chappell & Martin Loosemore, 2022. "When Following the Rules Is Bad for Wellbeing: The Effects of Gendered Rules in the Australian Construction Industry," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(1), pages 119-138, February.
    15. Ramachandra, Varun Karekurve, 2024. "Gender quotas and upward political mobility in India," SocArXiv 4zqve, Center for Open Science.
    16. Elisa Peñalvo-López & Francisco-Javier Cárcel-Carrasco, 2019. "An Analysis about Learning to IncreaseWomen’s Participation and Employment in Europe’s Energy Transition: Evidence from the European Project MEnS," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-17, August.
    17. KAREKURVE-RAMACHANDRA, VARUN & sood, Gaurav, 2024. "The Limits of Electoral Gender Quotas in Rural Local Bodies," OSF Preprints 4uscb_v1, Center for Open Science.
    18. KAREKURVE-RAMACHANDRA, VARUN & sood, Gaurav, 2024. "The Limits of Electoral Gender Quotas in Rural Local Bodies," OSF Preprints 4uscb, Center for Open Science.
    19. Seungwoo Han, 2024. "Elite Politics, Mass Discontent and Political Inequality in South Korea: Who Represents Me?," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-17, November.
    20. Samuel Heimann & Kristina Johansson, 2024. "Gendered work in geoscience: Hard work in a masculine field," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 16-35, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jworld:v:3:y:2022:i:3:p:38-691:d:908924. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.