ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with an overview of female participation in construction in the United Kingdom (UK), and the nature of diversity management (DM) in the sector. To dissect the effectiveness of the 'business case', publicly available secondary data has been analysed, including from the 1991 and 2011 censuses and the 2011 Workplace Employment Relations Study (WERS) management questionnaire (MQ) and survey of employees questionnaire (SEQ). Based on the data, an assessment was made, drawing initially on the annual Construction Statistics of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), concerning to what extent the structure of the UK construction industry is compatible with diversity policies and practices devised in support of the 'business case'. Improving gender diversity through organisational policies and positive action in construction is clearly severely limited, because, as the data show, these policies and practices do not automatically lead to monitoring, inclusive practices, and increased gender participation.
