Career aspiration and workplace reality – Lived experience of early career professional women in construction

Despite the increasing number of women studying built environment and engineering courses, the participation of professional women in construction remains low in Australia. Interviews with early career professional women in construction showed a misalignment between career aspiration and career reality because of gender bias, discrimination and harassment, procedural bias, and a demanding work environment based on a male work model. Due to structural and cultural career constraints, many women had already given up thinking they could achieve their goals and were considering an alternative career path. Practical implications highlight that organisations can support the retention and success of early career professional women by fundamentally re-shaping workplace culture and work practices. This change is essential so that early career women are certain that a long-term career in construction is viable and that they will be able to combine work and family commitments if they choose to do so without a career penalty.