Assessing female labour force participation rate in the construction industry.

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2014-07-25
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Gender equality has been the topic of discussion on many international, intra-national and governmental platforms since the Beijing conference in 1995 with recent efforts towards equality being the subscription to the achievement of millennium development goals by nations all over the world. With all these efforts and discussions, gender inequality still persist in the everyday life of people particularly in the recruitment and employment efforts of industry players. This study assessed female labour force participation rate in the construction industry. Various studies found that female participation in the construction industry is generally low. This study identified several causes and challenges including lack of interest, poor image and sexual harassment as factors hindering female participation in the industry. To complete this study, a sample of 40 respondents comprising 30 construction workers and 10 contractors were drawn from Consar Construction Ltd. for the study. Two different types of questionnaires were developed to solicit data from the two main types of respondents used for the study. Data gathered was analyzed using statistical package for service solution software. The results of analyzed data revealed that males dominate the construction industry by 57 percent whilst females constitute 43 percent. Also, the study revealed the females‟ lack of interest in construction related jobs, lack of exposure of females to opportunities in the construction industry, male domination of construction related training and education are among challenges hindering female participation in the construction industry in Ghana. The study revealed that employers in the construction industry require that females possess two main types of skills-construction specific and construction supporting skills to be employable in the construction industry. The study therefore recommended that the technical schools, colleges and universities in conjunction with the Ghana Education iv Service develop female friendly construction related courses and training programmes to help develop the capacities of females in construction, promote female interests to increase the number of females in the construction sector.
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A thesis Submitted to the Department of Managerial Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT-OPTION). 2014
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