Perceived Career Barriers for Future Female and Male Spanish Building Engineers: Case of Occupations Related to Work on Site

Abstract

Previous studies have found that the evolution of women's presence in the Spanish construction sector is positive and progressive, but very slow, that there is horizontal and vertical segregation, and that barriers and inequalities in hiring conditions still exist. However, there has been little work focused on perceived career barriers for building engineering students, at least for the Spanish case. By means of a quantitative methodology, the perceptions on career barriers that future Spanish building engineers may encounter for developing their careers in the construction industry are explored in two universities. Specifically, a gender perspective will allow to find out whether there are differences between men and women and to identify barriers for each professional profile. This information will be valuable for predicting the occupations to which women will be most attracted and those they will reject. Results show that both men and women perceive job market constraints and inadequate preparation as the two main career barriers. Moreover, it is confirmed that for professional profiles related to work on site, the gender variable determines students' perceptions, with women expecting to face a greater number of barriers. © 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.