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Organisational cultures: Progression and retention barriers to women in the UK construction industry

The UK construction industry employs over two million people and is the country 19s top employer. However, at present the UK is facing a massive shortfall of available skilled workers and this shortage is predicted to continue for the foreseeable future (ConstructionSkills, 2008). Within this commercial climate, the numbers of women employees has remained relatively unchanged for the past decade and women consist of just 10.1 per cent of the available workforce. This lack of diversity serves to both limit the availability of skilled talent that can be drawn upon and further exacerbates the current skills gap. Research into the issues surrounding organisational cultures and their impact upon the successful entry, retention and progression of women into the sector is limited. The Women and Work Sector Pathways Initiative (W&WSPI) project, funded by ConstructionSkills (2008), is providing a proactive approach to aiding in the progression and retention of women into the sector alongside analysing the role of organisational cultures and their impact upon preventing women from entering the construction industry. Findings gathered from a series of focus groups and semi-structured questionnaires are analysed and discussed within this paper. These findings have led to the development of a framework of recommendations that serve to both inform current project strategy and highlight areas of future research.