A STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF GLASS CEILING FACTORS ON WOMEN CAREER DEVELOPMENT AT INTERNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION CONSORTIUM (PVT.) LIMITED

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.