IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ausman/v43y2018i1p152-169.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Institutional entrepreneurs driving change: The case of gender equality in the Australian construction industry

Author

Listed:
  • Fanny Salignac

    (Centre for Social Impact, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia)

  • Natalie Galea

    (Faculty of Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia)

  • Abigail Powell

    (Centre for Social Impact, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia)

Abstract

Taken-for-granted rules are difficult to change. The Australian construction industry is one example, where despite considerable attempts at regulating gender equality by government and others, the industry remains steadfastly male dominated. This article investigates the drivers (i.e. why) and processes (i.e. how) of change with regard to gender equality in the workplace. Using institutional entrepreneurship, we provide insight into the change towards gender equality in the Australian construction industry. We collect data from two Australian construction companies and, drawing on interviews conducted with business leaders, look at how new meanings around gender equality and diversity are negotiated. We find that while gender equality is an important point of focus for both companies, discrepancies remain between perceptions and reality as well as people’s level of readiness. We conclude with implications for theory and future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Fanny Salignac & Natalie Galea & Abigail Powell, 2018. "Institutional entrepreneurs driving change: The case of gender equality in the Australian construction industry," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 43(1), pages 152-169, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ausman:v:43:y:2018:i:1:p:152-169
    DOI: 10.1177/0312896217705179
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0312896217705179
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0312896217705179?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Burgess, Jacquelin & Clark, Judy & Harrison, Carolyn M., 2000. "Knowledges in action: an actor network analysis of a wetland agri-environment scheme," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 119-132, October.
    2. Abigail Powell & Katherine J. C. Sang, 2013. "Equality, diversity and inclusion in the construction industry," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(8), pages 795-801, August.
    3. Julie Battilana & Bernard Leca & Eva Boxenbaum, 2009. "How actors change institutions : Towards a theory of institutional entrepreneurship," Post-Print hal-00576509, HAL.
    4. 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.
    5. Paul Tracey & Nelson Phillips & Owen Jarvis, 2011. "Bridging Institutional Entrepreneurship and the Creation of New Organizational Forms: A Multilevel Model," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 60-80, February.
    6. Karl E. Weick, 1988. "Enacted Sensemaking In Crisis Situations[1]," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 305-317, July.
    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. Jayanti, Rama K. & Raghunath, S., 2018. "Institutional entrepreneur strategies in emerging economies: Creating market exclusivity for the rising affluent," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 87-98.
    2. Babita Bhatt & Israr Qureshi & Suhaib Riaz, 2019. "Social Entrepreneurship in Non-munificent Institutional Environments and Implications for Institutional Work: Insights from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(3), pages 605-630, February.
    3. Slitine, Romain & Chabaud, Didier & Richez-Battesti, Nadine, 2024. "Beyond social enterprise: Bringing the territory at the core," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    4. Canning, Mary & O'Dwyer, Brendan, 2016. "Institutional work and regulatory change in the accounting profession," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-21.
    5. Engwall, Lars & Pahlberg, Cecilia & Persson, Olle, 2018. "The development of IB as a scientific field," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 1080-1088.
    6. Wakkee, Ingrid & van der Sijde, Peter & Vaupell, Christiaan & Ghuman, Karminder, 2019. "The university's role in sustainable development: Activating entrepreneurial scholars as agents of change," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 195-205.
    7. Suvi Nenonen & Kaj Storbacka, 2021. "Market-shaping: navigating multiple theoretical perspectives," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 11(3), pages 336-353, December.
    8. Alexander C. Lewis & Arkangel M. Cordero & Rachael Xiong, 2021. "Too Red for Crowdfunding: The Legitimation and Adoption of Crowdfunding Across Political Cultures," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(3), pages 471-504, May.
    9. Matthew Lee & Julie Battilana, 2013. "How the Zebra Got Its Stripes: Imprinting of Individuals and Hybrid Social Ventures," Harvard Business School Working Papers 14-005, Harvard Business School.
    10. Sebastian Brenk & Dirk Lüttgens & Kathleen Diener & Frank Piller, 2019. "Learning from failures in business model innovation: solving decision-making logic conflicts through intrapreneurial effectuation," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 89(8), pages 1097-1147, December.
    11. Welter, Friederike & Smallbone, David, 2015. "Creative forces for entrepreneurship: The role of institutional change agents," Working Papers 01/15, Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn.
    12. Elisa Villani & Luciano Greco & Nelson Phillips, 2015. "Business Models and Institutional Complexity: Understanding Value Creation in Healthcare Sector Public-Private Partnerships," BEMPS - Bozen Economics & Management Paper Series BEMPS31, Faculty of Economics and Management at the Free University of Bozen.
    13. Jarrod Ormiston & Richard Seymour, 2011. "Understanding Value Creation in Social Entrepreneurship: The Importance of Aligning Mission, Strategy and Impact Measurement," Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(2), pages 125-150, October.
    14. McMullen, Jeffery S., 2018. "Organizational hybrids as biological hybrids: Insights for research on the relationship between social enterprise and the entrepreneurial ecosystem," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 575-590.
    15. Wright, April L. & Zammuto, Raymond F., 2013. "Creating opportunities for institutional entrepreneurship: The Colonel and the Cup in English County Cricket," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 51-68.
    16. Victor Tiberius & Meike Rietz & Ricarda B. Bouncken, 2020. "Performance Analysis and Science Mapping of Institutional Entrepreneurship Research," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-21, September.
    17. Paola Bernardi & Alberto Bertello & Canio Forliano & Ludovico Bullini Orlandi, 2022. "Beyond the “ivory tower”. Comparing academic and non-academic knowledge on social entrepreneurship," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 999-1032, September.
    18. Ödül Bozkurt & Mirela Xheneti & Vicky, 2022. "On the Front Line of the Circular Economy: The Entrepreneurial, Identity and Institutional Work of a Female Entrepreneur towards the Circular Transition," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(1), pages 156-166, February.
    19. Jolly, Suyash & Raven, R.P.J.M., 2015. "Collective institutional entrepreneurship and contestations in wind energy in India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 999-1011.
    20. Vaughan Higgins & Melanie Bryant & Marta Hernández-Jover & Connar McShane & Luzia Rast, 2016. "Harmonising devolved responsibility for biosecurity governance: The challenge of competing institutional logics," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(6), pages 1133-1151, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Australian construction industry; discourse analysis; gender diversity; gender equality; institutional entrepreneurship; institutional theory;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • L74 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Primary Products and Construction - - - Construction
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:sae:ausman:v:43:y:2018:i:1:p:152-169. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.agsm.edu.au .

    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.