The impact of training and development on career advancement of professional women in the UK construction industry

Abstract

The redressing the gender imbalance in the UK construction industry has been emphasised on numerous occasions and many researchers have identified that women can contribute in an immense way towards the construction industry development. However, construction industry has failed to attract and retain women who are interested in a construction career. Participation of women is still very low in some parts of the industry, in particular, at a time when skilled people at all levels of the industry are in demand. Further, Training and Development (T&D) activities have been identified as one of the vital element for professional women’s career advancement in the construction industry. However, most of the concepts related to competitive advantages of T&D on professional women’s career advancement are imprecise and unstructured in the construction industry. There is little evidence of an accepted theoretical framework for applying the ideas and there is even less in the way of empirical evidence concerning the validity and utility of these concepts. This paper presents the how much/how little impact T&D has on women’s career advancement. This paper is based on data collected from professional women in the UK construction industry.