Abstract:
The Constitution of Sri Lanka reckons that women are equal citizens entitled to all the privileges that
men can avail themselves of. Nonetheless, constitutional guarantees, women in the workplace have
not been provided with equal opportunities to achieve leadership positions and this problem is severe
in the construction industry. The lack of women career development in construction industry has
been a concern for many years. Therefore, the researcher investigated impact of glass ceiling factors
in the form of cultural factors, work-life conflict and organizational factors on women career
development at International Construction Consortium (Pvt.) Limited. This study was conducted
based on positivistic research paradigm and quantitative research methodology. A self-administered
questionnaire was prepared using validated and reliable scales. A census study was conducted and
data were collected from 102 female employees in the company. A multiple regression analysis was
used to test the hypothesized model. Findings of the study revealed that only work-life conflict and
organizational factors significantly impact on women career development at International
Construction Consortium (Pvt.) Limited. Moreover, it was found that work-life conflict is the highest
impacting factor. However, cultural factors do not have an impact on women career development at
the selected context. Hence, management of the company should be more concerned on improving
women friendly work-life policies and should ensure fair treatment of the female employees at the
workplace. The findings of this research will be helpful for managers to identify the invisible barriers
that hinder the career development of women and will make a novel contribution to the construction
industry of Sri Lanka.
