Senior female managers in small construction firms within the North West of England: An update

This paper providing an update on the results from an European Social Fund Project investigating "senior female managers in small construction firms within the North West of England." Initial research findings were presented at the 23rd ARCOM conference in 2007 (Lu et al., 2007a). It was indicated that the career decisions of female senior managers are a product of serendipitous circumstances and choices which produce idiosyncratic transitions and turning points in career progression. Moreover, these choices appear not to be affected by any externally driven agendas or realities, such as equality and diversity or construction image / culture considerations. The analysis of subsequent interviews has generally confirmed these findings, as well as crystallising the critical part senior female managers have in being a role model to encourage the recruitment and retention of women into the construction industry. It is the role model function which is reported here. The role appears to be differentiated into two parts: internal mentoring and protection of female staff within the SMEs; and, leadership in external, local business networks.