Strategies that Enhance the Retention of Women in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) workforce: An Integrative Review

The AEC workforce has serious professional skills deficiencies that affect the planning, delivery and maintenance of infrastructure. These skills disparities can be bridged by attracting and retaining women in the industry. Therefore, it is necessary to ascertain the strategies that enhance the retention of women in the AEC workforce. Despite the growing body of scholarship on employee retention, there is a lack of comprehensive review on this topic in the AEC literature. This study adopts an integrative review approach to synthesise knowledge on strategies that enhance the retention of women in the AEC workforce. In total thirty-three papers were extracted. This study identified twelve strategies, however only five retention strategies are discussed in this paper. The retention strategies are classified into organisational and societal (external). These include career development and career progression, family friendly workplace practices, supervisory support, social support from family and friends and support programs from professional networks. This review contributes to the understanding of the retention of women in the AEC industry scholarship. The study also highlights potential areas for future empirical studies to move forward. By understanding the effective retention strategies for women, organisations can design and implement strategies that create a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace for women in the AEC workforce.