What influences professional women’s career advancement in construction?

Research on professional women’s careers in the construction industry has focused on explanations for their under-achievement and the barriers they experience, many of which are outside their personal control. However, some women are progressing, so it is important to understand what facilitates this process. Using a theoretical framework, involving individual, interpersonal and organizational factors, a cross-sectional correlational field study involving 456 professional women investigated the effect of a range of variables on career advancement. Individual factors rather than interpersonal and organizational factors were found to have the greatest influence on women’s career progression. This finding, contrary to previous women in construction research, indicates a “contest”, rather than “sponsored”, career mobility path. The research contributes to the understanding of the career advancement of women, highlighting issues with previous research which has identified mentoring, networks and other organizational support mechanisms as valuable to women’s advancement. It provides evidence that promotional processes have a potential gender bias, and while networks, mentoring and other forms of organizational support do not assist women with promotion, they are a valuable deterrent to women’s departure from an industry struggling with low female participation and retention.