The overworked site manager: gendered ideologies in the construction industry

Abstract

Organizations are sites where gendered ideologies are established and played out and in the case of the construction industry there is a strong underrepresentation of women and ethnic minorities in certain positions such as site managers. Masculine ideologies here denote the totality of norms, belief and assumptions that serve to enact specific images of e.g. leadership work. In the case of the Swedish construction industry, the site manager role is enacted as a paternal figure having full control of the situation, always in the position to take care of emerging and unforeseen events, and spending long hours at work. Such site management role is thus reproducing gender ideologies, imposing expectations on individual site managers, and erecting entry barriers for e.g. women or individuals not willing to forsake family life. The managerial implications are that the construction industry needs to critically evaluate what demands are put on site managers and how to create more balanced leadership positions.