Is Poor Leadership Keeping Women Out of Construction?
Nearly 70% of women working in construction say they feel pushed out of the workforce by bad management
March 12, 2025
FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images
Many women in the construction industry feel they are being held back from succeeding in their roles due to poor leadership.
The construction industry is short on workers, and hiring more women could help close the gap. However, retaining women workers can be a challenge, a recent study shows. According to Construction Dive, a survey from National Center for Construction Education and Research and Ambition Theory shows that 68% of women say they feel pushed out of the construction workforce by poor leadership. Additionally, 87% of surveyed women say they want career growth opportunities but their companies don’t offer them. For those who do receive career training opportunities, 42% say they feel adequately prepared to step into more advanced roles.
About seven in 10 respondents said they felt they had been interrupted or spoken over more often than others or they had been mistaken for someone in a more junior position. Three in four women said that their judgment had been questioned in their area of expertise.Read more