The gendered dimensions of informal institutions in the Australian construction industry

Abstract

The construction industry is the most male-dominated in Australia, despite companies implementing formal policies and initiatives to address this. While previous research has examined the role of workplace culture as a barrier to women in the industry, our research investigates the role informal institutions play in obstructing gender equity in construction. We examine the gendered dimension of informal institutions (practices, narratives and norms) in two multinational Australian construction companies using feminist institutional (FI) theory and rapid ethnography. The findings show that informal gendered institutions obstruct women's recruitment, retention and progression in construction. Recruitment into and within the industry is framed by male sponsorship, cultural fit and traditional education pipelines. Retention is compromised by poor parental leave practices and norms, which tolerate sexism and gender stereotypes, as well as unsustainable work practices. Progression is impaired by the need for strategic alliances with powerful men and a lack of transparency around promotion opportunities.

Why Australian female high school students do not choose construction as a career: A qualitative investigation into value beliefs about the construction industry

“…It also faces a current skilled labor shortage, or it will in the not too distant future (Kim et al, 2020;Mohamed et al, 2017). Yet the sector is overwhelmingly male dominated throughout the world (Akinlolu & Haupt, 2019;Galea et al, 2020;Morello et al, 2018;Tunji-Olayeni et al, 2017).…”

When Following the Rules Is Bad for Wellbeing: The Effects of Gendered Rules in the Australian Construction Industry

“…Successfully implementing formal rules (including policies and initiatives) around employee wellbeing is challenging in the construction industry. In large part, the data shows this is because the formal rules are frequently undermined by the informal rules (practices and narratives) described above, but also by competing formal rules such as the construction and employment contracts (see aslo Galea et al, 2020). This means companies seeking to address employee wellbeing need to consider how they may challenge the informal rules and readjust competing formal rules.…”

Developing a theoretical framework for exploring the institutional responses to the Athena SWAN Charter in higher education institutions—A feminist institutionalist perspective

“…Lovenduski (2014) identifies the FI approach as shining a conceptual light on the gendered dimensions of structures of power and behaviour. A primary focus of FI is on the role played by institutional informal structures, processes, values and norms -referred to also as informal institutions (Chappell and Waylen, 2013;Galea et al, 2020;Waylen, 2013). Drawing largely from the interpretative perspective of sociological institutionalism (Powell et al, 2018), FI provides an approach to analyse how informal institutions (Chappell and Waylen, 2013) interact with the formal, codified rules and processes of institutions, and how the interaction between the formal and informal produces gendered outcomes.…”

“…This has been found in Ackers work also, on gendered organisations (1990), gendered institutions (1992b) and inequality regimes (2006). Formal and informal institutions combine to create 'stable, valued, recurring patterns of behaviour' (Huntington, 1968: 12 cited in Galea et al, 2020 that influence how 'things are done around here' on a daily basis (Galea et al, 2020). The outcome of this phenomenon is that people living and working within institutions learn and adapt to the 'dos and don'ts' of acceptable behaviours; processes learned on the ground within an organisation, known also as the rules-in-use (also recognised as a combination of formal and informal rules) (Ostrom, 1999).…”

“…are part of the heritage we call culture' (North, 1990: 37). Galea et al (2020) describe gendered dimensions of informal institutions (practices, narratives and norms) as explaining recruitment and promotion practices in the construction industry, as 'cultural fit' (male sponsorship) and traditional educational pipelines shape the pool of people being recruited into the sector. This research adds to the literature on gendered informal institutions; it furthers sheds light on the role they play in shaping outcomes and practices.…”