Influencing Factors on Recruitment and Retention of Women in Construction Education: A Literature Review

The construction management (CM) profession is expected to grow 11% by 2026, creating 44,800 positions for knowledgeable and skilled professionals. In 2015, women only held 6.7% of the available positions in CM illustrating their underrepresentation within this profession. Recruitment and retention of women within the construction industry and the CM profession is imperative to this industries growth. Current studies on diversity and inclusion suggest that achieving gender equity is not just about equal representation, but an increase in the bottom line. A strong correlation is found between diverse companies and increased profitability through improvement of customer orientation, increased employee satisfaction, and an ability to attract top talent to name a few. However, scholarly literature conducted within the field of CM on the factors influencing women to enter and stay in the field is sparse and often conflicting. Because of the conflicting research, the purpose of this paper is to identify and integrate research findings on the topic and to establish the extent with which the current research literature has clarified the influential factors associated with the recruitment and retention of women within CM programs and the profession. The objectives of this paper are to identify, evaluate, and integrate research findings of scholarly studies conducted within the United States (U.S.) between 2010–2019 regarding the recruitment and retention of women in CM. The paper aims to bring about awareness and educate influential stakeholders to inform practices and policies within the industry to reduce gender discrimination and promote recruitment and retention of women within the construction industry. These findings can also be used to inform future researchers interests in gender equity within CM and male-dominant professions.