Sisson, P. (2021). One solution to a shortage of skilled workers? Diversify the construction industry. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/25/business/dealbook/labor-shortage-diversity.html The solution to a shortage of skilled workers is to diversify. Sisson recounts the struggles endured by underserved groups, specifically women, in their efforts to break into the construction industry. Historically exclusionary hiring practices will […]

Shrestha, B. K., Choi, J. O., Shrestha, P. P., Lim, J., & Nikkhah Manesh, S. (2020). Employment and wage distribution investigation in the construction industry by gender. Journal of Management in Engineering, 36(4), 06020001. https://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000778 “The construction industry has insufficient interest and participation from women, as well as an existing gender wage gap. To address […]

Rivera, R. (2010). Building towers, razing sexism. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/jobs/19pre.html After battling a lifetime of  prejudices and landing as the CEO of her own construction company, Roxanne Rivera’s outlook on women’s potential in the construction industry is optimistic. Rivera believes that times have changed since she started out; when she gets emails from […]

Porter, E. (2021). In Boston, setting a goal for a racially diverse construction work force is one thing. Meeting it has proved more difficult. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/06/business/economy/unions-race-boston.html The American construction industry is one of the last in the country that offers “good jobs to workers without a college degree.” In Boston Massachusetts, a […]

Perrenoud, Anthony J, et al. Advancing women in construction: gender differences in attraction and retention factors with managers in the electrical construction industry. Journal of Management in Engineering, vol. 36, no. 5, Sept. 2020, https://doi.org/10.5503/j.me.2011.02. “Representing half of the workforce, women have been consistently underrepresented in the construction industry. Unlike other fields that have improved […]

Hannon, K. (2020). In a field dominated by men, she’s in charge. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/business/women-electricians.html Tonya Hooks is an accomplished electrician that runs her own business. This article uses anecdotes from Hooks’ career to highlight the discriminatory practices that have historically affected women in the construction industry. The odds are against women starting […]

Kaufman, J. (2019). The boss? You’re looking at her: 7 women in the building business. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/01/realestate/the-boss-youre-looking-at-her-7-women-in-the-building-business.html Kaufman illuminates the experience of seven women working in different sectors of the construction industry. Though all of these women have unique stories to tell, they all had to work rigorously to be respected as […]

Hickey, P. J., & Cui, Q. (2020). Gender diversity in US construction industry leaders. Journal of Management in Engineering, 36(5), 04020069. https://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000838 “Despite having a US gender population distribution of 50.8% and 21.9% of civil engineering bachelor’s degrees earned in the last 24 years, women are significantly underrepresented in US engineering and construction executive leadership […]

Hartman, H., Forin, T., Sukumaran, B., Farrell, S., Bhavsar, P., Jahan, K., … & Macey, D. (2019). Strategies for improving diversity and inclusion in an engineering department. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, 145(2), 04018016.https://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/(ASCE)EI.1943-5541.0000404 “The Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department at Rowan University is part of a growing and expanding […]

Hannon, K. (2020). In a field dominated by men, she’s in charge. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/business/women-electricians.html Tonya Hooks is an accomplished electrician that runs her own business. This article uses anecdotes from Hooks’ career to highlight the discriminatory practices that have historically affected women in the construction industry. The odds are against women starting […]

Hale, L. (2013). A critical analysis of women in manufacturing. Race, Gender & Class, 20(1/2), 281–293. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43496919 “This research is a critical analysis of women working within the manufacturing sector. Women’s work within factories has been ignored and the main focus of analysis with regards to the manufacturing sector has been on men. This critical […]

Griffith, E. (2020). Group seeking equality for women in tech raises $11 million. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/30/technology/women-tech-allraise.html All Raise is a nonprofit formed by female venture capitalists in response to harassment and discrimination in Sillicon Valley. Griffith reports shocking statistics about women in tech: “Forty-four percent of female founders said they had been harassed. […]

“From Inclusion to Support: How to Build a Better Workplace” (2019). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/17/business/recommendations-diverse-workplace-new-rules.html The New York Times catalogs changes that would create equitable workplace environments for women as proposed by participants at the New Rules Summit. Culture has a significant impact on the recruitment and retention of female workers; adjustments need to […]

Barriers to the professional development of qualified women in the Peruvian construction industry Barreto, U.; Pellicer, E.; Carrión, A.; Torres-Machí, C. (2017). Barriers to the professional development of qualified women in the Peruvian construction industry. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice. https://core.ac.uk/display/275639279?source=2 “The construction industry frequently offers an unwelcoming environment for women, […]

Aulin, R., & Jingmond, M. (2011). Issues confronting women participation in the construction industry. In J. Mwakali, & H. Alinaitwe (Eds.), [Host publication title missing] (pp. 312-318). Makere University, Uganda. https://portal.research.lu.se/en/publications/issues-confronting-women-participation-in-the-construction-indust “This paper raises the issues confronting the minority cohort’s participation in the construction industry. Women in construction are seen as the wrong gender to […]

Armaratunga, et al. (2006). Construction industry and women: a review of the barriers. 3rd International SCRI Research Symposium.  University of Salford Manchester. http://www.disaster-resilience.salford.ac.uk “The UK construction industry has a particularly low participation rate for women. Currently there are over 11 million women employed in the UK, accounting for almost 50% of the workforce. However, despite […]

Marie-Élène Roberge, Rolf van Dick, Human Resource Management Review, Volume 20, Issue 4, 2010, Pages 295-308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2009.09.002. Abstract: Answers to research questions such as how and when diversity influences performance at work are still limited. This paper provides theoretical answers to these questions by proposing a model of managing diversity which draws on social psychology […]

Cottrill, K., Denise Lopez, P. and C. Hoffman, C. (2014), Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 275-292. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-05-2012-0041 Abstract: This paper examines perceptions of inclusion and related factors, to understand how organizations can encourage and facilitate the full participation of employees. The research explored authentic leadership (AL) as an antecedent of inclusion, […]

Morley, T. (2018), Strategic HR Review, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 58-60. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-10-2017-0068 Abstract: Becoming a diverse and inclusive workplace requires a commitment of time, energy, and resources on behalf of the employer. Securing approval for those resources requires making a compelling business case demonstrating that the business results are greater than the resources needed […]

Harvard Business Review https://hbr.org/2021/11/achieving-gender-balance-at-all-levels-of-your-company Summary: It’s common for organizations to have gender parity or close to it in entry-level roles, only to see the percentage of women employees decrease as you get closer to the top. A deeper dive into the data reveals that the drop-off of women is primarily driven by gender disparities in promotion […]

Stevens FG, Plaut VC, Sanchez-Burks J. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science. 2008;44(1):116-133. doi:10.1177/0021886308314460 Abstract: As the demographic composition of organizations in the United States rapidly shifts, such that minority groups are becoming the numerical and economic majority, organizations are grappling with ways to manage diversity in the workplace. The two forms of diversity initiatives […]

Chrobot-Mason D, Aramovich NP. Group & Organization Management. 2013;38(6):659-689. doi:10.1177/1059601113509835 Abstract: Workforce diversity has been described as a double-edged sword; it has the potential for positive and negative outcomes. To better understand why and how diversity leads to positive outcomes, we examined the relationship between employee perceptions of diversity climate perceptions and intent to turnover. […]

People Management, October 2017 https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/experts/research/diversity-drives-better-decisions Summary: A white paper from online decision-making platform Cloverpop has found a direct link between inclusive decision-making and better business performance. The study analyzed around 600 business decisions made by 200 teams, across a range of companies. Researchers found that when diverse teams (of three or more people) made a […]

Clark University, 2020 https://commons.clarku.edu/sps_masters_papers/42/ Summary: This case study explores the topic of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and learned how it can transform a business. When D&I is a serious business strategy supported by senior management it can help recruit and retain top talent, increase profits, and unleash creativity among other benefits. It is […]

Harvard Business Review https://hbr.org/2021/11/how-sharing-our-stories-builds-inclusion Summary: It’s time for the conversation around inclusion and diversity to take a human-centric approach. It’s not just about the numbers — it’s about the people. Storytelling, one of the most universal human experiences, gives us a rare chance to look through new lenses. And perspective-taking is a life skill, not […]

McKinsey and Company https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-wins-how-inclusion-matters Summary: Diversity wins is the third report in a McKinsey series investigating the business case for diversity, following Why diversity matters (2015), and Delivering through diversity (2018). Our latest report shows not only that the business case remains robust but also that the relationship between diversity on executive teams and the […]

Valerie Francis and Elisabeth Michielsens, Journal of Management in Engineering, Vol 37, No 5, 2021. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000929, https://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/%28ASCE%29ME.1943-5479.0000929 Abstract: Based on valuing individual differences and embracing all employees, diversity management is widespread and evident in many organizations. However, discriminatory work practices and lack of support persist in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, with higher […]

Canadian Construction Association, 2019. https://www.cca-acc.com/workforce-excellence/diversity-and-inclusion-a-business-case/ Summary: As our society and workforce change, so too must our industry if it hopes to keep pace. Diversity and inclusion are about embracing that change through authentic cultural change and, in the case of the Canadian construction industry, gaining proven positive benefit. A thoughtful and practical cultural shift toward […]

McKinsy & Company, February 2015 https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/why-diversity-matters# This research finds that companies in the top quartile for gender or racial and ethnic diversity are more likely to have financial returns above their national industry medians. Companies in the bottom quartile in these dimensions are statistically less likely to achieve above-average returns. This suggests that diversity is […]

The Practical Lawyer magazine Alison Akant, J.D., M.Ed., March 2020 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3559033 This article published is the first in a series on the promise of diversity and inclusion (D & I) initiatives for the workplace in the new decade. It reviews why making the case for D & I initiatives has been so difficult in the […]

Journal of Public and Nonprofit Affairs Dyana P. Mason, Vol.6, No.1, 2020 https://www.jpna.org/index.php/jpna/article/view/325 Since the early 1990s, diversity and inclusion (D&I) efforts have received increasing attention among management scholars. Although the benefits and challenges of implementing D&I practices are now well established, few studies have explored the extent to which nonprofit associations, in particular, engage […]

Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research Beba, U., & Church, A. H. (2020). 72(4), 288–302 https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2020-98094-005 Diversity and inclusion (D&I) today represents a standard cultural component in every major organization’s overall human-capital strategy. If we have learned anything collectively in the past 40 years, however, it is that one cannot simply mandate that an organization […]

Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, Gassam, J. Z., & Salter, N. P. (2020). 72(4), 275–287 https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2020-98094-004 Training in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is an important way for organizations to create cultures that are welcoming and comfortable for all employees. However, it is important to ensure that they are as effective as possible, and […]

Insider HR, November 9, 2017 5 key steps to implementing a successful diversity program This article provides five key points that HR leaders should keep in mind to create and implement a successful diversity policy at the workplace. Train and sensitize employees: HR leaders need to encourage and train their current managers, leaders and staff to […]

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), March 31, 2017 https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/global-and-cultural-effectiveness/pages/5-key-steps-to-starting-a-di-program.aspx This article highlights five key steps to starting a Diversity and Inclusion initiative in any organization, including small and mid-size organizations. Success requires preparation and persistence from a dedicated professional, but it doesn’t require a large budget. The “essential” steps to launching such an initiative […]

Inc.com; Jun18, 2018 https://www.inc.com/ryan-jenkins/here-are-benefits-of-inclusion-how-to-create-an-inclusive-culture.html Organizations with inclusive cultures are two times as likely to meet or exceed financial targets, three times as likely to be high-performing, six times more likely to be innovative and agile, and eight times more likely to achieve better business outcomes. Here are Five ways to create an inclusive culture in […]

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), March 19, 2018 https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/0418/pages/6-steps-for-building-an-inclusive-workplace.aspx This article offers six practical strategies for creating an inclusive environment that goes beyond merely hiring a diverse workforce that includes a range of ages, ethnicities, religions and worldviews. They include: Educating leadership on the benefits of inclusion, as it’s a company’s executives and managers—those […]

CIO.com; February 14, 2019 https://www.cio.com/article/3262704/diversity-and-inclusion-8-best-practices-for-changing-your-culture.html A strong diversity and inclusion strategy can help your organization attract top talent and drive innovative results. Here are eight best practices for launching a diversity and inclusion initiative that works. Establish a sense of belonging for everyone: For each individual to bring their best self forward, a sense of […]

Forbes.com; August 18, 2019 https://www.forbes.com/sites/sheilacallaham/2019/08/18/eight-steps-to-start-or-grow-a-diversity-and-inclusion-initiative/?sh=727c3ca96b17 Most large organizations are already on the diversity and inclusion bandwagon, but small- and midsize companies may be considering how to build it into their programming or expand an initiative already in place. Although there is no one way, the following eight steps are sure to provide a powerful start […]

Harvard Business Review, January 13, 2020 https://hbr.org/2020/01/5-strategies-for-creating-an-inclusive-workplace There are several strategies employers, leaders, and managers can use to help create a more inclusive workplace. This article recommends five: 1. Embrace the business case for diversity and inclusion. 2. Tackle bias through employee and leadership training programs. 3. Practice inclusive leadership by creating a safe team […]

Harvard Business Review; May 12, 2020 https://hbr.org/2020/05/diversity-and-inclusion-efforts-that-really-work A Stanford and Harvard professor convened a symposium on what actually works to improve diversity and inclusion in organizational life. In this article, David Pedulla summarizes the main findings. They are: Organizations should set goals, collect data, and hold people accountable for improving diversity within the organization. Organizations […]

Forbes.com, June 11, 2020 https://www.forbes.com/sites/yolarobert1/2020/06/11/4-ways-to-actually-create-diversity-and-inclusion-in-the-workplace/?sh=7d0b76933fcd This article from Forbes outlines four things workplaces can do to create diversity and inclusion in the workplace. They are: 1. Create trainings and policies around racism just as there are policies in place to prevent sexual harassment. (These trainings and policies should be an ongoing effort within the company […]

Business News Daily, September 17, 2020 https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/9782-diversity-training.html To create more welcoming workplaces that respect differences and give a voice to people who are often underrepresented is to implement company diversity and inclusion training programs. Diversity and inclusion training has the potential to positively address biases and prejudice within organizations, but to arrive at these successful […]