Women career in construction industry after industrial revolution 4.0 norm

Abstract

The advancement of women’s careers in construction following the Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0 is a significant concern. This study aims to investigate the primary factors and barriers encountered by women professionals in the construction industry, and how IR 4.0 technologies can mitigate these challenges. Qualitative and quantitative methodologies were employed to identify the most impactful barriers faced by women in construction and assess the effectiveness of IR 4.0 technologies in supporting their careers. Key challenges such as fear of heights, work-life balance, musculoskeletal disorders, and exposure to harmful gases on-site were identified as significant barriers for women in construction. Technological applications such as advanced building technology, autonomous construction, building information modelling (BIM), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were identified as having the potential to overcome these barriers. Fear of heights with a relative importance index (RII = 0.785) and work-life balance (RII = 0.772) were determined to be the most influential factors contributing to these barriers for women. Meanwhile, advanced building materials (RII = 0.831) and autonomous construction (RII = 0.806) emerged as the primary technologies within IR 4.0 that could positively impact women’s careers in construction. The findings indicate that IR 4.0 technologies effectively address the barriers faced by women in the construction industry. This study sheds light on these barriers and offers guidelines for their resolution, leveraging the advancements of IR 4.0.