2024 Collaborative Network for Engineering & Computing Diversity (CoNECD)

Challenges and Opportunities to Address Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within the Professional Construction Industry

Presented at Track 7: Technical Session 7: Challenges and Opportunities to Address Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within the Professional Construction Industry

The construction industry has been a predominantly White/Caucasian Men community with a very low representation of women and people from traditionally marginalized backgrounds. Even though companies have been implementing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) statements for many years, we still believe it is neither a diverse nor equitable field. To better understand how DEI statements declared by companies have been understood and recognized by employees, a survey was deployed nationwide to understand how professionals in the construction industry perceive their organization's DEI statements or policies. A complete data set was built from 249 participants. 75% identified themselves as men and 25% as women, and nobody identified with other gender identities. More than 80% of participants were White/Caucasian, 4% Black or African American, 4% Hispanic or Latinx, and 6% Asian. Participants are currently working in small (24%), medium (30%), and large (46%) construction and design companies located across The United States. Regarding the number of employees, companies are small, less than 99 employees; medium, between 100 and 499 employees; and large, more than 500 employees. Also, companies were grouped into four main types, building construction companies (67%), transportation construction companies (6%), special trade contractor companies (17%), and design companies (10%).

For more than 65% of professionals in the construction industry who participated in this study, DEI was mainly related to proper representation of women and minoritized populations in the workforce; Merit-based transparent recruitment and promotion; equality, social justice, and nondiscrimination policy statement; and equitable payment and compensation. Other factors such as proper representation of women and minoritized populations at the top management level and payment structure transparency did not emerge from the results. We also found that 70% of professionals identified DEI statements in their companies and 30% of professionals did not identify or did not know about DEI statements. Looking at the company size, 85% of professionals in large companies identified DEI statements in their companies, but 71% and 42% of professionals in medium and small companies identified DEI statements in their companies, respectively. According to the company type, more than 80% of professionals working in design companies recognized DEI statements in their companies, but around 60% in construction and special trade companies.

We can highlight that large companies have established policies and practices that result in better socialization and recognition of their DEI statements than medium and small companies. Also, construction and special trade companies need to strengthen their DEI statements and increase the representation of women and people from traditionally marginalized backgrounds. Results from this research give an idea about the current state of DEI in the construction industry and would contribute to the current effort to increase the diversity of the nation's construction workforce.

Authors

Mr. Andres Nieto http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7996-7115 Virginia Tech
Dr. Homero Murzi http://orcid.org/https://0000-0003-3849-2947 Marquette University [biography]

Dr. Homero Murzi is the Director of Engineering Education and Associate Professor in the OPUS College of Engineering at Marquette University and honorary Professor at the University of Los Andes (Venezuela). Homero is the leader of the Engineering Competencies, Learning, and Interdisciplinary Practices for Success (ECLIPS) Lab. His research focuses on developing engineering education practices that prepare graduate students and faculty members with the tools to promote effective and inclusive learning environments. Homero has been recognized as a Diggs Teaching Scholar, a Graduate Academy for Teaching Excellence Fellow, a Global Perspectives Fellow, a Diversity Scholar, a Fulbright Scholar, a recipient of the NSF CAREER award, and was inducted into the Bouchet Honor Society. Homero serves as the Chair for the Research in Engineering Education Network (REEN). He holds degrees in Industrial Engineering (BS, MS) from the National Experimental University of Táchira, Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Temple University, and Engineering Education (PhD) from Virginia Tech.
Dr. Abiola Akanmu Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Anthony Olukayode Yusuf http://orcid.org/https://0000-0003-1574-788X Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Prof. Sheryl Ball Virginia Tech [biography]

Dr. Sheryl Ball is a Professor of Economics at Virginia Tech. She is an experimental economist that in recent years is also doing very interesting work in the area of Neuroeconomics. Dr. Ball studies different aspects of individual decision-making as well strategic behavior both inside and out of the lab. Much of her current research is interdisciplinary and done in collaboration with others at the Virginia Tech Carillion Research Institute and Medical Center in Roanoke. In addition to her academic achievements, her contributions to research in these fields has also been acknowledged by the National Science Foundation, Hewlett Packard, the Andrew Mellon Foundation, the National Institute for Dispute Resolution, Hughes Telecommunications and Space, as well as university-level research grants, including a senior fellowship from the Institute for Society, Culture and Environment. Her work has led to the development of intellectual property, including software programs to help individuals and companies prepare for and participate in auctions.

Dr. Sheryl Ball received her bachelor’s degree with honors in mathematical methods in social sciences, and her master’s and doctoral degrees in managerial economics and decision sciences from Northwestern University. She has also served as an Associate Dean for curriculum, instruction, and advising in the College of Science, Associate Department Head of Economics and Undergraduate Program Director for Economics. She is Associate Editor at Economic Modeling. As a woman in STEM Dr. Ball has presented work on active learning and research, as well as women in science and is actively involved with mentoring for Committee for the Status of Women in the Economics Profession.
Walid Saad http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2247-2458 [biography]

Walid Saad received his Ph.D degree from the University of Oslo in 2010. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor and the Steven O. Lane Junior Faculty Fellow at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech, where he leads the Ne
Dr. Andrea Nana Ofori-Boadu http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6401-1399 North Carolina A&T State University [biography]

Dr. Andrea N. Ofori-Boadu is an Associate Professor of Construction and Construction Management with the Department of Built Environment within the College of Science and Technology at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NCA & T).

Download paper (389 KB)

Are you a researcher? Would you like to cite this paper? Visit the ASEE document repository at peer.asee.org for more tools and easy citations.

» Download paper

« View session

For those interested in:

Academia-Industry Connections
engineering
professional
race/ethnicity