Women and minority in construction

There is a high demand for housing, infrastructure development, and other construction activities. But, the construction industry, worth $8 trillion, is currently facing a major problem. The hurdle is a lack of people to meet the demand for construction work all around the world. In 2018, every 9 out of 10 U.S. contractors reported about shortage of skilled laborers. 

On ground reality, the industry is in tremendous need of workers from all the segments of the population. Yet, the fact that minorities and women have been the most targeted construction worker pools for a long time, even today during the shortage of workers in the industry, is even more alarming. 

The situation of women in the construction industry

Today, concrete proof that the gap between males and females in the construction industry is widening, is the fact that only 10.3% of the workforce in the construction industry is composed of women with the majority working in accounting, IT departments, and tech departments. 

According to a study by Forbes, the companies that are diverse and have not just males but both the counterparts in their workforce reap 19% more earnings as compared to companies that do not fall in the criteria. This means that a diverse workforce comes with a myriad of benefits for the companies as they would earn more revenues and witness growth. 

Yet, only one out of every 100 women, who are professionals in the construction industry, actually work in the field. This prevailing gap can be filled by women but the following issues hamper it:

• Women workers are outnumbered by the male workers even after wanting to work in the construction industry because of unconscious gender bias.

• The basic reason being lack of training and no groundwork in schools or colleges for promoting girls to the construction and building sector. Many do not even realize the need and scope of getting a job in this industry.

• The construction umbrella is kept closed by the parents and guardians for the girls because of their perceptions about this male-dominated industry. Teachers or parents never try to recommend these options to them. We never even realize the scope and talent we might overlook because of our prejudices.

• Lack of female ideals and role models in the industry is also a big reason.

• The pay gap is not actively monitored by 43% of the organizations.

• 60% of the victims of gender discrimination in the workplace are the women and 8 out of 10 women feel left out at social events of the company.

The hiring process is also influenced by the network of people already present in the industry. This includes company referrals, male friends or connections in the industry, male-to-male sponsorship, etc.

The situation of minorities in the industry

A massive red flag about the construction industry is the fact that the majority of construction workers are men but there is further an uneven diversification among them. It is the discrimination, not just of women, but also of minorities. According to the U.S. Bureau Of Labor Statistics about employed people by the construction industry, as of January 22, 2020, 11.3 million people were employed in the construction industry, 88.1% were white people and 6.4% were the Black people or the African Americans. Also, 30.4% and just 1.9% were Hispanics and Asians respectively. The figures are different for the individual departments like Manufacturing, but the ratio of minorities to other workers remains somewhat similar. On one hand, the industry is facing a labor shortage and on the other hand, we are alienating a great chunk of our potential workforce based on color, creed, caste, and other factors. 

The challenges or issues faced by the minorities are:

• Lack of connection in the existing construction industry as there are fewer minority workers already and having a connection with the already discriminated segment of an industry does not turn out to be of much help. The job openings are preferably offered to the candidates that are either approved or in connection with the majority segment and the vicious cycle of the gap between the majority and minority prevails.

• Be it during education or other stages of life, minorities have always gone through discrimination and felt vulnerable because of the conservative society from the very beginning. Latinos and young black individuals have a higher unemployment rate as compared to Whites. This does not lay the groundwork it needs to stand out as an eligible candidate.

• Even if the skillsets are par excellence, the criticism and lack of confidence takes away the eagerness to hustle one’s way into the industry.

• It requires communication and coordination among the team members as the job in the construction industry is not a one-man task. However, the spirit of teamwork suffers because of the lack of interaction and fear of being sabotaged or dominated by the majority.

• English may or may not be the first language of the minority workers and this might act as a barrier in the workforce. Lack of interaction and communication does not bode well for the industry.

A DBE or Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program began for creating a safe and flexible working environment for such workers. It aimed to provide the minorities and women a chance of participating in the transportation agencies with the help of financial assistance from USDOT, Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Highway Administration, and Federal Transit Administration. These businesses were 51% owned by economically and socially disadvantaged people. Similarly, Minority Business Enterprises started with 51% ownership granted to minorities, and Women Business Enterprises began with 51% ownership of women.

The benefits of having women and minorities on board with other workers in fields:

• It will close the labor gap that keeps widening continuously.

• A diverse workforce would be better and more rewarding with a plethora of new ideas and more hands at work.

• The open competition, nurturing professional environment and equal opportunities would get things back on the track.

• Diversity in the workplace contributes to the well-being of one and all. It keeps the mental health of the workers in check as there is a sense of belongingness and the workload is also divided among the workers.

• The variety of perspectives with the unique backgrounds would foster more creativity and innovation. Regardless of gender, fresh ideas and thoughts make people look at hurdles with a completely different perspective and it drives the industry forward. Therefore, enterprises should try to attract more and more women and minorities.

• A diverse team is the one that is more productive and the fact to support this statement is that the companies that execute inclusive hiring process make decisions faster and spend 50% less time in conducting meetings and delaying the decision.

• With productivity, the performance also boosts up. According to Forbes, the decisions made by diverse teams are 87% of the time better than those made by their counterparts. Not just that, these decisions also bear 60% better results.

The talent, skillset, and potential should never be suppressed by giving it a non-justifiable angle of color, ethnicity, gender, or caste. It is high time people realize that the industry needs to overcome labor shortage as soon as possible and the solution lies by eliminating the discriminatory behavior and domination. However, on the brighter side, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted a 13% growth in this sector that would open 180,000 new job opportunities by 2024. Hopefully, women and minorities would join the construction industry, work on the fields, and rise in the ranks of the construction workforce.