Relationship between Gender Segregation and Students' Occupational Preferences in Building Engineering

Abstract

Horizontal and vertical gender segregation is self-evident within the construction sector. In Spain, as in other countries, women have obtained qualified technical work thanks to their education, but only on a few occasions are they placed in strategic or management positions, and they tend to perform specific roles, mainly office occupations, disconnected from the building process or on-site work. According to the literature, people's preferences, as well as their perceptions of barriers or opportunities, are influential factors in explaining and predicting the conformation of their occupational aspirations. By applying a quantitative methodology, the authors analyzed whether there were significant differences in the occupational preferences of a sample of 704 fourth-year building engineering undergraduates, and the most attractive occupational alternatives for women and men were identified. The results showed some relevant similarities but also clear differences between genders that can contribute to the occupational segregation of the construction sector. For that reason, the need to propose early measures of orientation, empowerment, and elimination of stereotypes is highlighted. © 2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.