The construction industry is known to be highly masculinised and to have work practices detrimental to employees’ wellbeing. Drawing on feminist institutional theory and a rapid ethnographic approach in two construction multinationals in Australia, we examine the relationship between the gendered nature of construction and workplace wellbeing for professional women and men employed in the industry. The findings reveal that adhering to the gendered ‘rules in use’ in the construction industry is negatively associated with wellbeing and is usually endured in silence. We also identify the ways in which the gendered rules have different effects on the wellbeing of men and women. We conclude that the construction industry is characterised by a set of ‘greedy’ gendered institutions that are inextricably linked to workplace wellbeing for both men and women and that these rules must be broken to improve worker wellbeing.
AckerJ (1990) Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: a theory of gendered organizations. Gender and Society4: 139–158.
2.
BainesDCunninghamI (2013) Using comparative perspective rapid ethnography in international case studies: strengths and challenges. Qualitative Social Work12: 73–88.
3.
BowenPGovenderREdwardsP (2014) Structural equation modeling of occupational stress in the construction industry. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management140: 04014042.
4.
CarmichaelFFentonS-JRoncancioMP, et al. (2014) Workplace wellbeing programmes and their impact on employees and their employing organisations: a scoping review of the evidence base. A collaboration between Health Exchange & University of Birmingham. Birmingham: Work, Wealth and Wellbeing Research Group and Network, The University of Birmingham.
5.
CartwrightSGaleA (1995) Project management: different gender, different culture? A discussion on gender and organizational culture – part 2. Leadership & Organization Development Journal16: 12–16.
6.
ChappellL (2006) Comparing political institutions: revealing the gendered ‘logic of appropriateness’. Politics & Gender2: 223–235.
7.
ChappellLGaleaN (2017) Excavating informal institutional enforcement through ‘rapid’ ethnography: lessons from the Australian Construction Industry. In: WaylenG (ed.) Gender and Informal Institutions. London: Rowman & Littlefield, 67–90.
8.
ChappellLWaylenG (2013) Gender and the hidden life of institutions. Public Administration91: 599–615.
9.
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) (2016) Growing the Health and Well-Being Agenda: From First Steps to Full Potential. London: CIPD.
10.
ChenPYCooperCL (2014) Work and Wellbeing. Wellbeing: A Complete Reference Guide. Wiley Blackwell.
11.
CooperCLLeiterMP (2017) The Routledge Companion to Wellbeing at Work. London; New York: Taylor & Francis.
12.
CoserLA (1974) Greedy Institutions; Patterns of Undivided Commitment. New York: Free Press.
13.
CottonPHartPM (2003) Occupational wellbeing and performance: a review of organisational health research. Australian Psychologist38: 118–127.
14.
DaintyALingardH (2006) Indirect discrimination in construction organisations and the impact on women’s careers. Journal of Management in Engineering22: 108–118.
15.
DeerySWalshJGuestD (2011) Workplace aggression: the effects of harassment on job burnout and turnover intentions. Work, Employment and Society25: 742–759.
16.
DenissenAM (2010) The right tools for the job: constructing gender meanings and identities in the male-dominated building trades. Human Relations63: 1051–1069.
17.
Department of Health (2015) The Victorian happiness report: the subjective wellbeing of Victorians. Melbourne, VIC: State Government of Victoria.
18.
Dickson-SwiftVFoxCMarshallK, et al. (2014) What really improves employee health and wellbeing: findings from regional Australian workplaces. International Journal of Workplace Health Management7: 138–155.
19.
DienerESuhE (1997) Measuring quality of life: economic, social, and subjective indicators. Social Indicators Research40: 189–216.
20.
FosterD (2018) The health and well-being at work agenda: good news for (disabled) workers or just a capital idea?Work, Employment and Society32: 186–197.
21.
GainsFLowndesV (2014a) How does the gendered organisation of political life make a difference? Examining an institution in formation – police and crime commissioners in England and Wales. APSA 2014 Annual Meeting Paper. Available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2451829 (accessed March 2020).
22.
GainsFLowndesV (2014b) How is institutional formation gendered, and does it make a difference? A new conceptual framework and a case study of police and crime commissioners in England and Wales. Politics & Gender10: 524.
23.
GaleaNR (2018) Built for men: institutional privilege in the Australian construction industry. PhD Thesis, Faculty of Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Australia.
24.
GaleaNPowellALoosemoreM, et al. (2015) Designing robust and revisable policies for gender equality: lessons from the Australian construction industry. Construction Management and Economics33: 375–389.
25.
GaleaNPowellALoosemoreM, et al. (2020) The gendered dimensions of informal institutions in the Australian construction industry. Gender, Work & Organization27(6): 1214–1231.
26.
GaleaNRoganABlaxlandM, et al. (2017) A new approach to studying gender in construction. In: EmuzeFSmallwoodJ (eds) Valuing People in Construction. London: Routledge, 113–129.
27.
GreedC (2000) Women in the construction professions: achieving critical mass. Gender, Work & Organization7: 181–196.
28.
GuestGMacQueenKMNameyEE (2011) Applied Thematic Analysis. SAGE. Washington DC, USA
29.
HammersleyM (2007) Ethnography Principles in Practice. London; New York: Routledge.
30.
HarrisonEKQuickAAbdallahS (2016) Looking through the wellbeing kaleidoscope: results from the European Social Survey. London: New Economics Foundation.
31.
HeadeyBWWearingAJ (2010) Coping with the social environment: the relationship between life events, coping strategies and psychological distress. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health12: 444–452.
32.
Health and Safety Executive (2018) Working together to reduce stress at work: a guide for employees. Bootle: Health and Safety Executive.
33.
HelmkeGLevitskyS (2004) Informal institutions and comparative politics: a research agenda. Perspectives on Politics2: 725–740.
34.
HuntingtonSP (1968) Political Order in Changing Societies. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
35.
IacuoneD (2005) ‘Real men are tough guys’: hegemonic masculinity and safety in the construction industry. The Journal of Men’s Studies13: 247–266.
36.
IsaacsE (2013) The value of rapid ethnography. In: JordanB (ed.) Advancing Ethnography in Corporate Environments: Challenges and Emerging Opportunities. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, 92–107.
37.
Karanika-MurrayMWeymanAK (2013) Optimising workplace interventions for health and well-being. International Journal of Workplace Health Management6: 104–117.
38.
KimmelM (1994) Masculinity is homophobia: fear, shame, and silence in the construction of gender identity. In: BrodHKaufmanM (eds) Theorizing Masculinities. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 119–141.
39.
KrookMLMackayF (2011) Introduction: gender, politics, and institutions. In: KrookMLMackayF (eds) Gender, Politics and Institutions. Springer, 1–20.
40.
LangfordDHancockMRFellowsR, et al. (1995) Human Resources Management in Construction. Ascot: Longman.
41.
LingardHTurnerM (2018) Construction workers’ health: occupational and environmental issues. In: EmuzeFSmallwoodJ (eds) Valuing People in Construction. Abingdon: Taylor & Francis, 23–40.
42.
LingardHBrownKBradleyL, et al. (2007) Improving employees’ work–life balance in the construction industry: project alliance case study. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management133: 807–815.
43.
LowndesV (2020) How are political institutions gendered?Political Studies68: 543–564.
MillenDR (2000) Rapid ethnography: time deepening strategies for HCI field research. In: Boyarski D and Kellogg WA (eds) Proceedings of the 3rd Conference on Designing Interactive Systems: Processes, Practices, Methods, and Techniques. New York, NY, USA, 17–19 August. ACM Digital Library, 280–286.
48.
NorthDC (1990) Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
49.
O’BrienRHuntKHartG (2005) ‘It’s caveman stuff, but that is to a certain extent how guys still operate’: men’s accounts of masculinity and help seeking. Social Science & Medicine61: 503–516.
50.
OlofsdotterGRandevågL (2016) Doing masculinities in construction project management: ‘we understand each other, but she . . .’. Gender in Management31: 134–153.
51.
ReeveRMarjolinAMuirK, et al. (2016) Australia’s Social Pulse. Perth, WA: Centre for Social Impact, UNSW Sydney and UWA.
52.
RichardsL (2000) Using NVivo in Qualitative Research. Melbourne, VIC: QSR International Pty Ltd.
53.
SamuelOB (2015) The effects of organisational culture and stress on organisational employee commitment. Management5: 96–106.
54.
SchermerhornJRDavidsonPPooleD, et al. (2014) Management. Milton, QLD: Wiley.
55.
SherrattFFarrellPNobleR (2013) UK construction site safety: discourses of enforcement and engagement. Construction Management and Economics31: 623–635.
56.
Stergiou-KitaMMansfieldEBezoR, et al. (2015) Danger zone: men, masculinity and occupational health and safety in high risk occupations. Safety Science80: 213–220.
57.
StyhreA (2011) The overworked site manager: gendered ideologies in the construction industry. Construction Management and Economics29: 943–955.
58.
SunindijoRYKamardeenI (2017) Work stress is a threat to gender diversity in the construction industry. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management143: 1–11.
59.
WarrPNielsenK (2018) Wellbeing and work performance. In: DienerEOishiSTayL (eds) Handbook of Well-Being. Salt Lake City, UT: DEF Publishers. 686–707.
60.
WattsJH (2009) Leaders of men: woman ‘managing’ in construction. Work, Employment and Society23: 512–530.
61.
WongYJHoM-HRWangS-Y, et al. (2016) Meta-analyses of the relationship between conformity to masculine norms and mental health-related outcomes. Journal of Counseling Psychology64: 80–93.
