Towards a Sustainable Construction Industry: A Fuzzy Synthetic Evaluation of Critical Barriers to Entry and the Retention of Women in the South African Construction Industry

Olugbenga Timo Oladinrin (), Abimbola Windapo, João Alencastro, Muhammad Qasim Rana, Christiana Ekpo and Lekan Damilola Ojo
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Olugbenga Timo Oladinrin: School of Art, Design and Architecture, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
Abimbola Windapo: Department of Construction Economics and Management, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town 7700, South Africa
João Alencastro: School of Art, Design and Architecture, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
Muhammad Qasim Rana: Construction Management, University College of Estate Management, Horizons, 60 Queen’s Road, Reading RG1 4BS, UK
Christiana Ekpo: Department of Construction Economics and Management, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town 7700, South Africa
Lekan Damilola Ojo: Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 10, 1-22

Abstract: Over the past few decades, numerous efforts have been made to increase the proportion of women in the construction industry, coupled with various calls for legislation and rules to prohibit gender discrimination. Despite these efforts, minimal progress has been noticed in the construction industry. While recruitment remains crucial, the current culture in construction reveals a knowledge gap in recruitment and retention in employment—a concept known as a ‘leaky pipeline’. Lack of awareness of career options and the challenges of working in a male-dominated, occasionally discriminatory workplace are some of the significant barriers to attracting and keeping women in the construction industry. Much of the research in South Africa shows that most construction companies employed few women but only in lower secretarial and administrative positions. Therefore, this study investigated the barriers facing women’s entry and retention in construction-related employment in South Africa using fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) to understand and prioritise the barriers. Data were collected through the administration of online and paper-based questionnaires. The results of the analysis show that the barriers in the order of criticality include support and empowerment issues (SEs), educational/academic-related barriers (ABs), barriers from professional conditions and work attributes (BPs), social perception and gender stereotype barriers (SPs), professional perceptions and gender bias (PP), and individual confidence/interest/awareness/circumstance-related barriers (IBs), respectively. Based on the findings of the study, several recommendations, including on-the-job tutoring and flexible work arrangements, amongst others, were provided.

Keywords: construction industry; diversity; accessibility; equality; inclusivity; gender (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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