Women-Men Dichotomy in the Construction Industry of Region 1

Abstract

The study attempted to unveil the extent of male domination in the construction industry of Region I, Two classifications of the population were identified; namely, those directly employed and those indirectly employed in the construction industry . On the overall, the findings show that for those directly employed, 12.53% are women civil engineers/architects, 13% are women designers, 36% are women suppliers, and 41% are women managers of construction-related industries. As to their profile, 89% are married, 50.90% are more than 50 years old, most have more than five children, 83% are college graduates, and 69% are more than 10 years already in the business. For those indirectly employed by the construction industry, 18% are women, 73% are less than 30 years old, 68% are still single, most merely finished high school, and about half of their population have served for 6-10years already. The study concluded that those directly employed are older, have higher educational attainment, have served the industry longer, and are mostly married, and with an average offive children. Those indirectly employed are younger, with lower educational attainment, mostly single and with lesser number of years in the industry. On the overall, 18% of the total support group (those indirectly employed) of the industry are women. In summary, the construction industry of Region I is 18% women, 82% men. It is, therefore, recommended that the present women organizations already mandated by law (NVCRF, UCS) which are support mechanisms to women should evaluate if male-dominated organizations like the construction industry are adopting programs to attend to the cause of the few women in the organization. All organizations should strive to attain a gender-fair society.