The role of HRM in supporting the career advancement of early-career professional women in construction: a conceptual model Open Access

Recent research highlights the benefits of gender-balanced workplaces in that employee job satisfaction and commitment are higher than in male-dominated or female-dominated workplaces (Olafsdottir and Einarsdottir, 2024). Despite this, many organisations and industries, continue to face gender imbalances in their workforce. The construction industry remains a classic example of an industry where women continue to be underrepresented (Loosemore, 2015). Historically, this industry has been dominated by assumptions that construction is “men's work”, which discourages women from entering (Townsend et al., 2011). In light of current skills shortages, the industry has been putting a greater focus on “find[ing] effective ways to encourage more women to pursue careers in construction” (Baker et al., 2024, p. 271). Construction companies have recently turned their attention towards talent management and human resource management (HRM) policies and practices that support attracting and retaining the upcoming generation of construction workers (Perrenoud et al., 2020). Hence, effective talent management serves as a competitive advantage for organisations (Aljbour et al., 2024) and is particularly important for construction – an industry in dire need of retaining and developing their talent. In our article, we focus on the construction industry as a prime example of an industry that has traditionally been and continues to be male-dominated, with the objective of understanding the enablers and barriers for women's career advancement in such industries.

Despite efforts by the industry and governments worldwide, women are still largely underrepresented in the construction industry. For example, in Australia, women were still representing approximately only 15% of the entire construction workforce in Australia (Master Builders, 2024). We see similar statistics in the United Kingdom, with only 15% of professionals in the UK construction industry being women (Office for National Statistics, 2024). The US faces similar low representation of women in the industry, with only 11.5% of employees in the construction industry being women (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023). Therefore, there is a strong case for increasing the participation of women in construction in the Western world and indeed worldwide (Francis, 2017), including contributing to social justice concerns regarding gender imbalance. However, increasing women's participation in construction through recruitment practices alone is not enough to produce the sustainability of more female talent in construction. While there is an upward trend in the number of women recruited into construction roles, there has also been an increase in the number of women leaving (WGEA, 2023). For example, in Australia, while women's representation in construction rose from 16% in 2016 to 25.9% in 2021, resignations also increased from 18.4% to 28.2% (WGEA, 2023). Similarly, in the United Kingdom, organisations are seeing professional women leaving the construction industry at twice the rate of men (Institute for Employment Studies, 2020). Women continue to face difficulties in both embarking and advancing in their construction careers (Morello et al., 2018; Perrenoud et al., 2020), which has been attributed to a myriad of factors. These include exposure to workplace discrimination and harassment, as well as the difficulties of managing a career in an industry not conducive to flexible work or work-life balance. Whilst men's construction career trajectories tend to be linear and upwards, women in construction have experienced a more inconsistent “zig-zag” career progression that in turn, impacts women's self-confidence and longevity in the industry (Naoum et al., 2020).

While scholars have studied the attraction and retention of women across different industry contexts, this remains an understudied topic within construction (Bigelow et al., 2021). The few existing studies have taken a more reactive approach by focusing on the barriers and challenges that women face (e.g. Navarro-Astor et al., 2017), rather than a proactive approach looking at the factors that facilitate positive career advancement within the industry (e.g. Francis, 2017). Few studies have examined the factors that influence professional women's career advancement (e.g. Francis, 2017), well-being (e.g. Rotimi et al., 2023) and leadership (e.g. Hickey and Cui, 2020). Echoing scholars' calls for organisations to take a proactive approach to creating supportive workplace cultures in construction (e.g. Borg and Scott-Young, 2022; Rotimi et al., 2023), we observe a need to adopt a proactive approach in identifying factors that positively impact women's advancement and progression within the industry.

There is also a research gap in understanding women's perceptions of their own career advancement and the factors affecting it across their early, mid and late-career stages (Naoum et al., 2020). Research that has touched on career advancement and leadership in construction has tended to look at mixed samples typically with only small percentages of women and making no comment on gendered differences (e.g. Bigelow et al., 2021). Of the little research that has specifically focused on women's career perceptions, the experiences of early-career professional women are seldom studied (Oo et al., 2020). This is particularly concerning since “younger women or new female graduates have been identified as the cohorts of concern due to their high turnover intentions and decision not to join the industry upon graduation” (Oo et al., 2020, p. 2).

Within this context, most of the research has been focused on the factors that attract women to professional roles in industry through a construction degree pathway (e.g. Bigelow et al., 2015), or those entering the trades workforce through apprenticeship programs (Kelly et al., 2022). Studies investigating early experiences of women in construction have tended to focus on the period immediately post-graduation (e.g. Moore and Gloeckner, 2007; Oo et al., 2020). Despite shedding light on women's choices to pursue construction-related education (e.g. Bigelow et al., 2015) and their immediate transition into the workplace (e.g. Oo et al., 2020), to date there is a gap in understanding the career advancement of women in construction. This includes a gap in understanding the positive organisational factors, HRM policies and practices that support their early-career advancement, well-being and leadership development. This gap is particularly important, given that opportunities for career advancement – such as leadership training – often lead to greater retention of women across industries (Mainiero and Sullivan, 2005).

Our research addresses this gap by investigating how, through HRM policies and practices, organisations can improve the career advancement of early-career women in the construction industry. This study is innovative in its focus on fostering inclusive and sustainable careers for professional women in this male-dominated industry. In this article, we begin by identifying what is already known in the literature on the early-career advancement of women professionals in the construction industry. We also contribute to the gap in HRM literature on career advancement of women in construction, since research to date has focused on addressing the industry's long working hours (Townsend et al., 2011), strategies to combat skills shortages (Clarke and Herrmann, 2007) and on poor work-life balance (McDonald et al., 2013). We found no research on the role of HRM in better supporting women's careers in male-dominated industries such as construction. In this article, we therefore use the construction industry as a lens through which we explore the barriers and enablers of the career advancement of early-career women in male-dominated industries. We contribute to the HRM and employment relations literature by developing a conceptual model which integrates theory on careers (i.e. the kaleidoscope careers model) and HRM process theory (e.g. Beer et al., 2015), to inform systematic HRM responses to overcome the barriers and promote enablers to the career advancement of women in male-dominated industries. Our model integrates three streams of literature (the careers literature, HRM literature and construction literature) to highlight the factors impacting women's needs pertaining to their career advancement in construction.

In this way, this conceptual article addresses the following research questions:

In answering our second research question, we seek to develop a conceptual framework that can guide HR departments to better support the career advancement of women in male-dominated industries. The construction industry serves as an important context to help illustrate the barriers and enablers of career advancement for women in male-dominated industries.

In answering the first research question, we sought to review the extant literature on the barriers and enablers of the career advancement of early-career professional women in construction. Consistent with the definition in the literature, we define early-career professionals as professionals who have been working in their role for between 1 and 5 years (Borg et al., 2023; Shields and Kilgour, 2018). As we were focusing on the construction industry context as a male-dominated industry example, we began our literature search by searching within peer-reviewed construction-related journals ranked Q1 (Scimago) and A/A* (ABDC List). These included Construction, Management and Economics (A), the Journal of Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management (A), the International Journal of Project Management (A), and the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (A*). To be included in our study, journal articles needed to specifically mention barriers and/or enablers of professional women in their early-careers in construction. We also considered studies that focused on professional women in construction across the lifecycle, but ensured that we considered the portion of the studies' findings that reported on women in their early careers. We also considered management and HRM literature pertaining to gendered differences in career advancement, as well as theories of career models. The following sections discuss the findings arising from our review.

There is a dearth of research on the career advancement of women in construction globally (e.g. Francis, 2017; Hickey and Cui, 2020). We know that women remain significantly underrepresented in leadership positions within construction (Hickey and Cui, 2020), yet there is no well-established understanding of women's progression into leadership roles. Given increasing workforce turnover rates, scholars have asserted the growing importance of construction companies integrating more diversity in their leadership and executive teams (Hickey and Cui, 2020).

Francis (2017) found that “individual factors had the greatest effect on women's career advancement, accounting for around 56% of the variance in career advancement, with interpersonal factors having a negligible effect and organizational factors having no effect” (p. 270). This highlights the importance of women's individual capabilities – such as leadership skills – to their career advancement. Organisational networks and mentors do not translate into career advancement for women as they do for men, leading Francis (2017, p. 271) to conclude that “construction evidently does not, at present, give ‘permission’ for women to lead or succeed”. Scholars have identified that women in construction believe that gaining soft skill training in advanced communication and leadership would facilitate their retention and progression alongside their male colleagues (e.g. Worrall, 2012). By increasing the representation of women in leadership roles, construction companies can create role models that will serve to encourage the career growth and retention of other women in the industry (Hickey and Cui, 2020).

Management literature has considered the impact of gender differences on career success and progression, attributing disparities between women's and men's careers to career paths and human capital differences (Dahlmann et al., 2008), as well as to differences in expectations and priorities (Valcour and Ladge, 2008). In addition, direct discrimination, as well as differences in social capital are significant factors impacting the stark differences in women's and men's career advancement (Li et al., 2008). Organisational culture and career choices also have a significant impact on the career progress of women (Clarke, 2011).

Scholars have found significant differences in the career paths of women compared to men in construction (Naoum et al., 2020). Most of the studies in the construction context have tended to focus on the barriers to the career advancement of women, with few studies (e.g. Francis, 2017; Hickey and Cui, 2020) of the factors that positively influence women's career advancement. In her Australian study of 456 women in professional and managerial roles across engineering, project management, architecture and quantity surveying, Francis (2017, p. 268) found that “work hours, work experience, developmental opportunities and relocations for career, significantly predicted career advancement”. She also found gender bias in promotion processes, highlighting the organisation's and HRM departments' effects on women's career advancement. In other parts of the world, other scholars have echoed the importance of organisations' role in supporting women's career advancement in the industry. Specifically, looking at women in leadership positions within the USA construction industry, Hickey and Cui (2020) recommended that in order to increase female representation in leadership roles, organisations need to focus on “active executive engagement, equal opportunities for key positions, and directed mentoring” (p. 04010069-9).

Moreover, when comparing the career paths of women and men in construction, in a UK-based study, Naoum et al. (2020) found that women tend to follow “zig-zag” career development paths compared to upward trajectories in their male counterparts' careers. Naoum et al. (2020) called for changes in organisational structures and the operation of corporate policies/procedures to support women through observed dips in their career development and asserted that women would greatly benefit from a career progression system based on merit. Similarly, Navarro-Astor et al. (2017) reported that the informal recruitment and selection processes used in construction are informal and not in line with best practice HRM; transparent and objective guidelines are also not followed when it comes to the career progression and promotion of women in construction. In their US-based study of professional women across career stages, Morello et al. (2018) found that women's perceptions of equal compensation or promotional recognition compared with male counterparts created more career satisfaction for women in construction, highlighting the importance of organisations' transparent and equitable HRM practices that promote career progression pathways for women.

Bigelow et al.’s (2021) US-study found that career opportunities are one of the key attractors for individuals in construction, especially within younger age groups (under 30s) and Oo et al.’s Australian study (2022) validated this finding, with early career women citing opportunities for personal development as reasons for pursuing a career in construction. Baker et al.’s study (2024) similarly highlighted the importance of career opportunities in attracting women to careers in construction. Yet, scholars have found that once in the industry, the opportunities are not equal across genders, with studies showing that women leave the industry due to salary disparities and experience a lack of opportunity for advancement (Perrenoud et al., 2020).

When it comes to differences in expectations and priorities, we can look at this through two lenses. First, that of the expectations and priorities of organisations that are placed on women in the industry (such as long working hours, the need to assimilate to the male culture), and that of the expectations and priorities of women where construction careers may not be conducive to flexible work (e.g. caring for children). Scholars have found a strong perception among women that to advance in their careers, they need to outperform their male counterparts (Worrall, 2012). Yet, many women continue to have caring responsibilities outside of work, taking on more family responsibilities and therefore having to carefully balance these with work responsibilities. In an industry with a “dominant presenteeism culture” (Watts, 2009, p. 520), and “inherent gendered norms and practices, such as long work hours, [which] sit in conflict with attempts to support more flexible work hours that promote healthy lifestyles and support women and men with caring duties in the workplace” (Watts, 2009, p. 386), women are once again at a disadvantage. Watts (2009) also found that professional female civil engineers were effectively pushed out by their supervisors, having received messaging from their employers that “engineering management and motherhood do not mix” (p. 521). Women reported disillusionment regarding the construction industry which was driven by “organizational expectations that hard-working means long-working [hours]”(Watts, 2009, p. 521). Indeed, inflexible work practices have been found to negatively affect women's work-life balance, especially for women between the ages of 36 and 45 (Worrall, 2012) who often have caring responsibilities.

As predominantly the primary carers of children, women certainly have – if not different, then – additional priorities to their male counterparts. Navarro-Astor et al. (2017, p. 210) found that “family responsibilities … oblige many women to take career breaks, having to choose between family or career. Others fear losing their job or being castigated for having children. Each of these situations leads to women falling behind in their career development”. As such, work-family balance and multiple role conflict, masculine working conditions and a lack of recognition of women's work (Navarro-Astor et al., 2017), as well as having children (Morello et al., 2018) and raising children (Perrenoud et al., 2020), have all been cited as barriers to the career advancement of women in construction (Navarro-Astor et al., 2017).

Organisations have a crucial role in ensuring that expectations placed on women are reasonable and that they allow for career advancement and are not in conflict with their well-being. Improved flexible working arrangements, return to work training and better parental benefits (Naoum et al., 2020) are particularly important to retain women in construction.

Gender-based discrimination is prevalent in construction (Dainty et al., 2000), with women facing significant disadvantages in terms of promotions, financial attainment (Ng et al., 2005) and a glass ceiling, or invisible organisational barriers that restrict their advancing into senior leadership positions.

From a career perspective, surface-level diversity – which refers to differences in visibly identifiable features typically rooted in biological differences such as sex, age and race – evokes reactions related to bias and prejudice, which directly give rise to discrimination (Dipboye and Halverson, 2004). Gender is considered a surface-level diversity and for women in construction, who are largely under-represented in construction organisations, their gender alone poses a significant factor leading to discrimination. Worrall (2012) identified that for professional women in the UK construction industry, other's attitudes, behaviours and perceptions were the top barrier to progression for women across all career stages. In an Australian study, Galea et al. (2015) found that a dominant male culture, coupled with assumptions and stereotypes made about women in the industry served as barriers to women entering the construction industry. Oo et al. (2020) found that women faced discrimination in the hiring process that acted as a barrier to entering the industry. Gender stereotypes, a culture of sexism and harassment and a lack of respect shown to women are also significant barriers to women's advancement in the industry (Navarro-Astor et al., 2017). Considering this, it is no surprise that scholars have found that the self-worth of women in construction decreases (Naoum et al., 2020) as does self-esteem and confidence (Worrall, 2012). Nor is it a surprise that the industry faces a significant problem retaining women, with women citing harassment (Perrenoud et al., 2020) and sexist attitudes, perceptions and behaviours (Worrall, 2012), as reasons for leaving their construction careers.

Scholars have called for a greater push by industry and organisations to “promote respectful workplaces, such as through revising employer policies and practices and providing a system for reporting harassment and discrimination across job sites and requiring training and ongoing booster sessions for all workers” (Kelly et al., 2022, p. 478). Yet, to date, little research has examined how organisations can positively support women in their construction – and indeed, other male-dominated – careers.

With regards to social capital – which encompasses the value of social relationships and networks – women tend have less than their male counterparts (Van Emmerik, 2006). Women tend to be less integrated into male networks, largely due to the traditionally male-dominated cultures that transcend organisational power structures (Roth, 2004). Male-dominated organisational cultures and the lack of supportive networks serve as obstacles to women in the construction industry (Rotimi et al., 2023; Worrall, 2012). While networks (including informal contacts) are integral within the construction industry, women tend to miss out on these since many networking opportunities are scheduled after work when women have caring responsibilities (Navarro-Astor et al., 2017). In direct conflict with the importance of social networks and social capital for career advancement, women in leadership positions within the construction industry find themselves assimilating into male-dominated organisations by distancing themselves from fellow junior women and in doing so, appear to legitimise gender inequality (Navarro-Astor et al., 2017). This leaves early-career women in construction lacking in both social capital and women leaders to champion/sponsor them. Indeed, a lack of female role models has been cited as a drawback for construction career advancement (Perrenoud et al., 2020).

When it comes to leadership positions, women have tended to face significant challenges in the workplace. For example, women are less likely than men to be selected as leaders within organisations (Kolb, 1997). Moreover, leadership traits and behaviours are evaluated more positively when attributed to males than females, even when the traits and behaviours in question are exactly the same (Kolb, 1997; Oakley, 2000). Deprivation theory (Jackson, 1989) helps explain the relationship between self-confidence and leadership when it comes to women. It suggests that due to social conditioning, women are generally satisfied with less (then male counterparts). This in turn, leads to women accepting positions of hierarchy despite being paid less than men, which can signal a lack of self-confidence and has flow-on effects which equate to women obtaining not only less financial rewards, but also less praise and recognition of leadership skills (Applebaum et al., 2003; Jackson, 1989).

Kolb (1999) attributed inequalities in leadership to several factors, including the corporate environment itself. Kolb (1999) asserts that women tend to experience work environments in which they are made to feel less welcome than men and that organisations tend to traditionally favour stereotypical masculine values. Moreover, it is considered that women are at greater risk of being stereotypically appraised when they comprise less than 15–25% of management level (Jamieson, 1995). Add to this, a male-dominated industry context, such as the construction industry, where women continue to be severely underrepresented, and such corporate environmental factors compound to result in limited leadership opportunities for women. Researchers have suggested that when organisations disproportionately employ women in roles which lack regular career advancement or when they fail to support the career advancement of women, organisations effectively discourage women's career advancement, leading to women's loss of hope of being promoted or advancing (Cassirer and Reskin, 2000).

We see that several of these factors come into play for women in the construction industry. Watts (2009) explored the career experiences of British female civil engineers and observed that few women were taking up senior management positions. Similarly, in the United States, scholars continue to lament the low representation of women in construction leadership roles (e.g. Hickey and Cui, 2020). Moreover, in Watts' (2009) study, consistent with the work of Kolb (1999), found that the success of women in leadership positions was dependent upon their ability to assume male norms of behaviour. These women were often subject to exclusion and resistance from men in their teams and the wider workforce. Watts (2009) concluded that “the pressures placed on female managers are complex and derive in part from the relation between stereotypes about managers and stereotypes about women and men” (p. 527). Watts (2009) posited that “this places women managers at a disadvantage because associations about women are typically and stereotypically inconsistent with those about managers, as a function of the male-as-manager bias” (p. 527). Furthermore, female managers in male-dominated workplaces are highly visible and this in turn, makes them vulnerable targets of prejudice in facing the competing demands of their roles as both women and leaders (Watts, 2020). This highlights the duality in the complexity of women in leadership roles within the male-dominated construction industry. First, women must rise above the stereotypical expectations that leaders must be men (Kolb, 1999); second, once in a leadership position, women may find themselves subject to discrimination or poor treatment due to their visibility in what is seen as a “socially expected” male leadership role (Jamieson, 1995). This suggests that there is an element of women in construction needing to “play a role”, creating a discrepancy between being able to be their authentic self in the workplace and needing to embody the persona that the industry context demands they portray.

In their study of 171 professional women pursuing a career in architecture, engineering, construction, and operations in the United States, Morello et al. (2018) found that 74% of women in professional roles reported receiving positive feedback and respect in leadership positions; however, 18% indicated that their coworkers and subordinates tended to be indifferent, displaying neither positive nor negative feedback. Another 8% of respondents reported that they regularly received negative feedback and struggled with maintaining their leadership role (Morello et al., 2018). This study highlights that women have difficulty maintaining their leadership roles due to workplace negativity in construction, echoing other researcher's findings on the topic of women and leadership (Jamieson, 1995). This further underscores the impact that organisational social structures can have on women's career development and advancement. For example, in organisations where behaviours conducive to workplace negativity are tolerated (such as discrimination, bullying, disrespect), women are less likely to feel able to maintain their leadership position. Indeed, in accordance with the work of Cassirer and Reskin (2000), in tolerating such behaviours, organisations are signalling that women's career advancement is not important, which leads to women's loss of hope for further career advancement. This is particularly detrimental within the construction industry context.

The construction industry is known to contribute to lower levels of well-being of employees due to a range of stressors that plague the industry's workforce. These include workplace stressors and stress (Liang et al., 2021) resulting in poor mental health (Oswald et al., 2019), long working hours (Love and Edwards, 2005), excessive workloads (Haynes and Love, 2004), job insecurity (Loosemore et al., 2003), a culture which tolerates bad behaviour and mistreatment (Borg and Scott-Young, 2022), poor professional worth (Lingard, 2003), and poor work-life balance (Lingard, 2003). Scholars argue that the construction industry needs to place a stronger emphasis on the well-being of its employees, citing this as “paramount to the survival of construction consultancy companies because people are their only asset” (Naoum et al., 2020, p. 04019042). This has seen more scholars in recent years focus on exploring the under-researched topics of occupational health and well-being in construction (e.g. Cheung et al., 2022).

While some scholars have started to investigate the well-being of the construction workforce (e.g. Cheung et al., 2022), including the stressors experienced by construction professionals (e.g. Liang et al., 2021), the experiences of women and the outcomes on their health and well-being are not well documented (Sang et al., 2007; Rotimi et al., 2023). Within the context of the Australian construction industry, Sunindijo and Kamardeen (2017) found that female construction professionals suffered more anxiety and acute stress symptoms than their male counterparts. While the top ten stressors facing male and female professionals were the same (1) time pressures, (2) excessive workloads, (3) long working hours and (4) an unpleasant work environment), their study found that female construction professionals experienced more discrimination, bullying and sexual harassment.

In their study on the well-being of female architects in the United Kingdom, Sang et al. (2007) found that women displayed lower levels of job satisfaction, higher levels of work-life conflict, as well as more physical health problems, including more frequent headaches and insomnia than men. Sang et al.'s (2007) findings suggested that women working in construction are at risk of poorer occupational health and lower levels of well-being than their male counterparts, which poses significant concerns to an industry seeking to embrace diversity. In a more recent New Zealand study, Rotimi et al. (2023) reported that the sexism experienced by women in construction reduced their work morale, which in turn, negatively impacted their mental well-being and decreased their physical health.

In addition, scholars in the management literature (e.g. Mainiero and Sullivan, 2005) found that women's decisions to leave their careers were triggered by their need to care for themselves, choosing to transition out if their jobs made them feel unwell or unsafe. For women in construction, who are already at risk of poor occupational health and well-being (Sang et al., 2007), this is a serious concern with the potential to negatively affect women's career advancement. A theoretical model which can help explain this, is the Person–Environment Fit perspective (Lewin, 1935; Murray, 1938). Essentially, it is conceptualised that the interaction between the person (i.e. the worker) and environment (i.e. the workplace) is key to understanding people's cognitive, and behavioural reactions (Lewin, 1935). Optimal fit between an individual and their work environment is essential for individual well-being (Lewin, 1935). Conversely, a mismatch in what people want (i.e. fair, equal treatment) and what they receive (i.e. discrimination, harassment, inequality) results in strain and reduces their individuals' sense of psychosocial well-being. The concept of Person–Environment Fit perspective (Lewin, 1935; Murray, 1938) has received increasing recognition in the occupational health and well-being literature. It serves as a useful lens through which to understand how the stressors which women are subject to within the construction industry, ultimately affect their psychosocial well-being.

Historically, careers were seen as linear and as a byproduct of the employer–employee relationship (Sullivan and Baruch, 2009). However, factors including increased globalisation, the increased diversity of the workforce and the growth of part-time and fixed-term employment engagements, led to a change in the traditional employer–employee relationships (Sullivan and Baruch, 2009). This has had flow-on effects on how individuals now manage and advance in their careers. We now see that the employer–employee relationship is more transactional and more transitory, with individuals increasingly taking more responsibility for the management and development of their own careers and more frequent job changes (Hall, 2004; Rousseau, 1989). Below, we discuss different career models and how they may help us understand the career advancement of professional women.

In 1996, the concept of the protean career model (Hall, 1996) gained popularity. This career model recognised that individuals were taking charge of their own careers. The protean career model was born of changes in the employer-employee relationship (e.g. decreased job security). Protean careers are characterised by the value of freedom, a belief in continuous learning, flexibility and the seeking of intrinsic rewards through work (Hall, 1996). The protean career model is defined as having two dimensions: (1) being values driven, as an individual's values guide and measure the success of the individuals' career and (2) being self-directed, as the management of the career is largely in the hands of the individual. Most scholars found no gendered differences in protean career management, with others finding some differences, such as that women score higher on being driven by their values relative to men (Segers et al., 2008).

The boundaryless career model offered a fresh perspective on contemporary careers and career management (Arthur, 2008). The model considered that career opportunities existed beyond the boundary of a single employing organisation (DeFillippi and Arthur, 1996). It considers that “an individual is independent rather than dependent on a traditional organizational career arrangement” (Sullivan and Baruch, 2009, p. 1545). Arthur and Rousseau (1996) looked at six different approaches of boundaryless careers: (1) individuals moving across the boundaries of separate employing organisations; (2) academics or carpenters that draw validation/marketability from outside their current employing organisation; (3) real estate agents whose careers are supported by external networks; (4) individuals that break traditional organisational assumptions concerning hierarchy and career advancement; (5) individuals who reject career opportunities for personal/family reasons and (6) individuals who perceive a boundaryless future regardless of possible structural constraints. Some studies have revealed gendered differences in the boundaryless career. For example, women have been found to experience more career interruptions due to family demands and have been found to reject career opportunities for personal/family reasons more than their male counterparts (Kirchmeyer, 2002). On the other hand, men's career interruptions were more likely due to losing their jobs and not due to rejecting opportunities for family/personal reasons (Kirchmeyer, 2002).

Integrating elements from both the protean and the boundaryless career models, the postcorporate career model describes individuals who work in a range of alternative employment arrangements, including temporary workers and independent contractors (Peiperl and Baruch, 1997). Individuals whose careers align with the postcorporate career model are considered to be self-directed in that they are responsible for managing their own careers. They engage in a range of career options and cross multiple boundaries to fulfil their career needs for both job satisfaction and job rewards (Peiperl and Baruch, 1997).

The kaleidoscope career model was developed independently from the protean or boundaryless career concepts to illustrate how individuals change the patterns and courses of their career by rotating the many varied aspects of their lives, to configure their relationships and work roles in ways that suit them. A key strength of the kaleidoscope career model is that it highlights the importance of gendered differences in career paths (Sullivan and Baruch, 2009). Scholars have suggested that other career models should consider whether men and women enact and manage their careers differently (Segers et al., 2008). Similar to both the protean and boundaryless career models, the kaleidoscope career model illustrates the importance of relationships, as well as the effect of contextual factors on careers (e.g. career stage) (Sullivan, 2011).

While career models (i.e. protean career model, boundaryless career model, postcorporate career model) are valuable in illustrating the changing needs of individuals' work preferences, career management and values, they give limited consideration to the industry-specific contexts within which careers exist. Literature shows that careers can look very different for men versus women, both within the same industry context and across other fields and disciplines (Mainiero and Sullivan, 2005). We therefore suggest that career models should not be used to explain women's career advancement and development in isolation from other key critical factors, including the industry-specific factors of the environment within which the women work. This includes paying particular attention to how the environment and the experience of that environment may be different for men as compared to women. For example, we would expect that women in male-dominated industries (e.g. construction) may face very different industry-specific barriers than women working in non-male-dominated industries (e.g. nursing). In this article and in response to our research questions, we will be integrating both the literature on career models, as well as the construction literature and management literature to propose a conceptual model which can help HRM to eliminate the barriers and promote the enablers of women in construction as a prime male-dominated industry example. In this way, we contribute to the integration of theory in the development of a theoretically-informed practical model which can be used by HRM professionals to better support the career advancement of women in construction.

Based on our review and understanding of career models, and due to its strength in highlighting gendered differences in careers, we adopted the kaleidoscope career model to inform our conceptual framework for understanding how women can be better supported in their career advancement in the male-dominated construction industry. In the following section, we explain the kaleidoscope career model and how it can shed light on the career advancement of women in construction.

The kaleidoscope career model can help explain the career needs of women. This is particularly important for organisations and HRM departments looking to overcome career barriers and promote women's advancement in male-dominated industries such as construction. In particular, the Kaleidoscope Career Model helps to explain how women make career decisions and highlights that women make relational decisions, considering the impacts of their careers on others (Mainiero and Sullivan, 2005).

Based on extensive research into the career paths of women across disciplines, Mainiero and Sullivan (2005) found that women's “career decisions were normally part of a larger and intricate web of interconnected issues, people, and aspects that had to come together in a delicately balanced package” (p. 111), with women making career decisions based on the impacts of those decisions on others and on their relationships with others in their life (e.g. significant others like children, friends, parents, colleagues and clients). This contrasts with men, who tend to act primarily for the benefit of their own career goals (Mainiero and Sullivan, 2005). In addition, the model highlights three key parameters that affect women's career decisions: authenticity, balance and challenge (Mainiero and Sullivan, 2005). Authenticity refers to the ability to be true to oneself amidst the challenges and interplay of personal development with work and issues outside of work; balance is concerned with how career-related decisions impact the coherent whole and equilibrium between work and non-work aspects; and challenge refers to women's engagement in duties/activities/roles that allow for learning development and growth (Mainiero and Sullivan, 2005).

Mainiero and Sullivan explain the Kaleidoscope Career Model in the following way:

The model suggests that the importance of each of the three parameters – authenticity, balance and challenge – may change according to women's career stages, with: (1) early-career women more likely to focus on goal achievement and challenge (with balance and authenticity being secondary factors); (2) mid-career women being predominantly concerned with balance (due to either balancing child-rearing or caring for elderly parents) and (3) women in late-career being more concerned with authenticity and making meaningful impact.

The Kaleidoscope Career Model highlights (1) a lack of advancement options due to discrimination and blending work and relationships and (2) the need for authenticity, balance and challenge as complex factors that “have a great influence on women's career decisions” (Mainiero and Sullivan, 2005, p. 116). Mainiero and Sullivan (2005) called for organisations to initiate policies and practices that take these into consideration to retain women in their careers. They recommended that organisations need to not only implement better work/life programs (e.g. well-being programs, policies that support caregiving and parental benefits), but also be committed to fostering a culture that allows individuals to make use of them. They also called for such HRM policies to be coupled with challenging jobs and advancement opportunities for women, emphasising that “gender-based inequities in wages, job placements, and training opportunities must be eliminated” (Mainiero and Sullivan, 2005, p. 116).

Unfortunately for women in construction, they tend to tick all the boxes when it comes to a lack of opportunity for career advancement in their careers. The reality is that they face discrimination in both hiring processes (Oo et al., 2020), as well as harassment and sexism (Navarro-Astor et al., 2017; Perrenoud et al., 2020; Rotimi et al., 2023) in their day-to-day work. Any caring roles and responsibilities outside of work place pressure on blending work and relationships, which coupled with the presenteeism culture of an industry and managers who do not support work-life balance (Watts, 2009), as well as disadvantages in nurturing their social capital (Navarro-Astor et al., 2017), and an expectation that they need to outperform their male colleagues (Worrall, 2012), leaves them with lowered levels of confidence and self-worth. Furthermore, women are subject to poorer well-being then men (Sunindijo and Kamardeen, 2017; Sang et al., 2007). By looking at the careers of women in construction through the lens of the kaleidoscope career model and what we know from the extant literature about the challenges and barriers faced by women in the industry, we can begin to understand why retention is a problem and why we see a gender imbalance in women progressing to leadership positions in construction. We propose that awareness of the Kaleidoscope Career Model in combination with the factors that inhibit and enhance women's career advancement, organisations and HRM departments can be better placed to support women in their construction careers. For example, in line with Mainiero and Sullivan's (2005) research, which found that for early-career women, the most important of the three factors (authenticity, balance and challenge) is that of challenge, we suggest that construction organisations wanting to retain and develop their early-career women should focus on career-enhancing opportunities such as leadership development. This would help women develop the individual capabilities found to have a positive effect on career advancement (Francis, 2017) and furthermore, would help women develop the type of soft skills that help facilitate their progression alongside male colleagues (Worrall, 2012). Moreover, coupled with observed lower levels of women's self-worth (Naoum et al., 2020), self-esteem and confidence (Worrall, 2012) and health and general well-being (Sang et al., 2007), we suggest that organisations need to invest in the well-being of their female workforce. This may be achieved through HRM policies and practices such as specific well-being days and increased carer's leave days for women, enhanced work-life balance provisions, and support mechanisms (e.g. mentoring programs). While scholars have made recommendations for changes in HRM policies and practices to support women's career development (Naoum et al., 2020; Rotimi et al., 2023), there is a lack of research on this important topic. Moreover, at the core of effective HRM policies and practices is a fundamental need for a cultural shift in an industry that has continued to subject women to illegal treatment due to their gender (i.e. bullying, discrimination, harassment).

In line with this, our examination of the literature has highlighted a research gap in studies that have explored the organisational factors that positively impact early-career women's advancement in their construction careers. Based on our literature review, we propose Figure 1 as a conceptual model that summarises the barriers and enablers of the career advancement of early-career professional women in male-dominated industries, using the construction industry as an example. We use evidence from our literature review, which drew on the example of the construction industry. The model also shows women's needs for career advancement of authenticity, balance and challenge in line with the pillars of the Kaleidoscope Career Model (Mainiero and Sullivan, 2005). The model further highlights the career needs of women in relation to these factors, as ascertained through our review of the literature (e.g. despite seeking the ability to be authentic at work, women face a reduction in self-esteem and confidence). These can inform HRM departments in the design and implementation of policies and practices that directly respond to women's career needs in construction, as well as help shed light on how these may apply to other male-dominated industries.

Underpinned by three streams of literature (the careers literature, HRM literature and construction literature), we now develop a conceptual framework to inform the career progression of women in the male-dominated construction industry. Through our model, we make a theoretical contribution to the HRM and employment relations literature by integrating theory on careers (i.e. the kaleidoscope careers model) and HRM process theory (e.g. Beer et al., 2015), to inform systematic HRM responses to overcome the barriers and promote enablers to the career advancement of women in construction.

First, based on the preceding discussion of Mainiero and Sullivan's (2005) kaleidoscope career model, we use the model, coupled with extant literature on the experiences of women in construction (as a prime male-dominated industry example), to conceptualise women's career needs. Second, we incorporate Beer et al. (2015) multi-stakeholder approach to HRM to promote the involvement of key stakeholders in developing HRM policies and practices. Third, we identify a suite of systematic HRM policies and practices to meet women's career needs and address their barriers (e.g. through reducing discrimination and harassment), enabling the career progression of women in the male-dominated construction industry.

The role of stakeholders is critical to an HRM approach that fosters the career progress of women in male-dominated industries. Beer et al. (2015) advocate for a multi-stakeholder approach to HRM as a strategy to enhance collaboration, listen to the voices of women workers and foster an inclusive culture of trust and respect. The role of senior leaders and line managers includes a developing and implementing a multi-stakeholder approach. It is clear from the literature that there is scant research on key stakeholders, including managers and their support of women within male-dominated industries, including construction. We would advocate for a greater role of stakeholders such as governments through legislation and its enforcement, financial incentives and cultural reforms of the industry to encourage a safe and respectful workplace for women workers. Importantly, sustainability, diversity, equity and inclusion, and corporate social responsibility are important concerns for organisations (e.g. brand equity and public image, social license to operate) in which multiple stakeholders and complex objectives are regarded as central to business operations (Beer et al., 2015). We would encourage greater dialogue and formulation of strategies and related HRM practices that enable key male-dominated industry stakeholders (e.g. owners, managers, unions, women workers, governments, women advocate groups) to work together in a “real” way to improve the sustainable employment of women through better attraction, career development and retention practices and policies.

Based on our review of the literature and the consideration of both the kaleidoscope career model, as well as a multi-stakeholder approach to HRM (Beer et al., 2015), we propose the model in Figure 1 (below) as a conceptual model that highlights the factors impacting women's career advancement and career needs in the construction industry. We drew on literature in the male-dominated construction industry to help conceptualise some of the key factors faced by women in the male-dominated environment. In particular, our model identifies barriers to women's career advancement in the construction industry as encompassing: career path and progression differences, direct discrimination, blending work and relationships, social capital barriers and industry-specific factors such as excessive workloads. In addition, our model also considers enablers for women's career advancement, as informed by the kaleidoscope career model; these are authenticity, balance and challenge. We have linked the factors in the model with HRM-based recommendations that are informed by the literature, we perceive as being integral towards contributing to the enhanced career advancement of women in the male-dominated construction industry.

The HRM-based recommendations in the model have been formulated in direct response to the identified barriers and enablers of women's career advancement in construction. For example, we identified direct discrimination which encompasses women being discriminated in hiring processes, as well as being subject to harassment and sexism experiences, as a barrier to women's career advancement in construction. Our model recommends that anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies be enforced by government and policy makers in response to this barrier. Such HRM policies may help alleviate the situation and provide formal mechanisms against which employees who do engage in harassment or discriminatory behaviour can be policed. Such policies would also help send the message to construction employees that such behaviour is not tolerated, helping to reduce a key barrier to women's career advancement in the process.

We argue that organisations can help positively support the career advancement of women in construction by focusing on the development and implementation of HRM policies and practices that create a safe environment and career progression for women in such male-dominated environments. The objectives of the identified HRM recommendations illustrated in the model (e.g. work flexibility arrangements and anti-harassment policies etc.) are not merely to provide equity in career enhancement opportunities (e.g. through mentoring); at their core, they mandate a change in organisational and industry culture, whereby women are treated equitably relative to their male counterparts. We assert that this can only be achieved through a genuine multi-stakeholder approach (Beer et al., 2015). It is by shifting the attitudes of organisations and employees (possibly through government intervention) that HRM departments can work with relevant stakeholders to work towards making such a male-dominated industry like construction a more inclusive environment for women. All forms of discrimination, bullying and harassment need to be called out and laws enforced within organisations. Furthermore, it must be noted that in efforts to make such male-dominated careers a level playing field for both genders, HR departments cannot work in isolation; rather, they must work with other key stakeholders (e.g. government and policy makers) for fairness and equity to be realised. In the box to the right in our model, the HR recommendations made consider the various stakeholders involved in implementing and enacting these HRM policies and practices. Informed by the multi-stakeholder approach to HRM (Beer et al., 2015), we recommend that this move towards HRM policies and practices targeted at better supporting women in their construction careers needs to be a collaborative effort between organisations, unions, governments and policy makers.

This historical lack of collaboration among key stakeholders to improve the work situation for women in construction, is perhaps where previous HRM initiatives have failed. To illustrate an example, within an Australian construction industry context, many initiatives have been implemented by different stakeholders with the objective of improving career opportunities for women in the industry. These include recommendations made by professional industry bodies such as Master Builders Australia (2024) (e.g. the Breaking Ground Report), which recommended initiatives such as (1) the promotion of good culture and safety practices, (2) unbiased career education for women and (3) an industry effort to cater to women's carer responsibilities. Another key initiative is the “Women in Construction” Website, which is an initiative backed by the Victorian government with the aim of empowering and assisting women considering embarking on a construction career, by providing them with helpful resources, information and connections to employers in the field (Building Futures Women in Construction, 2024). The Victorian Government funded a strategy focused on achieving greater representation of women in construction, known as the “Building Gender Equality: Victoria's Women in Construction Strategy 2019–2022” (Victorian Government, 2024). These efforts and initiatives, while a significant step in advancing a push towards a more inclusive industry, prompt reflection on the question of “why do we still keep facing the same problem despite such efforts?” We suggest that the answer lies in the lack of collaboration between key stakeholders when it comes to the effective implementation of such initiatives. This is where we believe the role of the HR departments lies – bringing key stakeholders together to develop, implement and evaluate HRM policies and practices aimed at women's career progression in industries such as construction, which continue to be largely male-dominated.

First, we need greater research on the factors impacting women's career advancement in male-dominated industries. Drawing upon the classic example of the male-dominated construction industry, our conceptual article serves as an important first step in highlighting the factors that inhibit and enable women's career advancement in male-dominated industries. However, we acknowledge the limitations of our conceptual article, mainly, that it is based solely upon literature and theory, without empirical data. Therefore, we suggest that empirical studies may be helpful in testing the model, or aspects of the model, as well as the effectiveness of the recommended HRM policies and practices in supporting women's career advancement in the construction context and beyond. In addition, we acknowledge that in line with the aims of our study, our article is more tailored to shedding light on the enablers and barriers to women's career advancement within the construction industry. Despite this, we suggest that our conceptual model may have implications for the career advancement of women in other male-dominated industries. We therefore call for more research on this important topic in other male-dominated industries.

Second, we encourage greater research on multi-stakeholder approaches for the development of HRM practices that support women's career enhancement in male-dominated industries. In particular, it would be helpful for scholars to address the myriad of HRM-informed research questions that remain under-researched and unanswered within the context of male-dominated industries, including construction: What is the role of governments in creating a safe workplace for women in male-dominated industries? What is the role of unions in creating a safe workplace for women in the workplace? What is the process through which a multi-stakeholder approach can create cultural change in attitudes towards women? What is the role of external stakeholders such as government agencies and regulators, industry associations and unions? How does the governance of the organisation change about employees and other stakeholders using multi-stakeholders approaches to HRM in male-dominated industries? What is the process of developing multi-stakeholder approaches to HRM and women's career progression? How do organisations pursue the process of multi-stakeholder change itself? How do HRM practices that support the career progression of women change in the context of a multi-stakeholder organisation purpose?

Third, we encourage research that examines the effectiveness and outcomes of HRM policies and practices that target creating a safe workplace and career progression of women in male-dominated industries. We observe a dearth of research concerning the following matters: How do key stakeholders ensure the implementation of such HRM practices? To what extent are multi-stakeholder approaches to HRM that support the career progression of women successful in increasing the attraction, job satisfaction, engagement and retention? What are the most appropriate ways to measure the career progression and success of women in male-dominated industries including construction?

Our conceptual article sheds new light on the existing research on the factors that inhibit and enable the career advancement of early-career women in male-dominated industries, using the construction industry as an example. Informed by the literature on the topic of women's careers in construction, as well as the kaleidoscope career model and a multi-stakeholder approach to HRM, we developed a conceptual model integrating three streams of literature (the careers literature, HRM literature and construction literature), to highlight the factors impacting women's needs pertaining to their career advancement in male-dominated industries. Our conceptual model contributes to the HRM and employment relations literature by integrating theory on careers (i.e. the kaleidoscope careers model) and HRM process theory (e.g. Beer et al., 2015), to inform systematic HRM responses to overcome the barriers and promote enablers to the career advancement of women in male-dominated industries. Moreover, this article also contributes to an enhanced understanding of how organisation and HR departments can respond to the career needs of women in construction to improve their career advancement. Our model includes HRM-based recommendations requiring stakeholder collaboration and contribution, which we hope may ultimately lead to the enhanced career advancement of women in male-dominated industries.

In this way, our study has helped in bringing the issue of underdeveloped female talent in male-dominated industries forward, and shed light on how HRM initiatives may be able to pave the way in supporting early-career female talent and developing them into future leaders within. We argue that an HRM-led multi-stakeholder approach is required to change a deeply entrenched industry culture of unfair and disrespectful treatment of women, which to date, has continued to inhibit their career progression and retention.

Finally, our research contributes to the enhanced understanding of HRM within the construction literature and construction industry context, which remains an area that is largely unexplored in both empirical and conceptual research. In this way, we hope our study helps illustrate the dire need for HRM research within this industry context and stimulate further research in this area as well as within other male-dominated industry sectors.