The Gender Impact Matrix - Challenges
The first investigation for the Gender Impact Matrix examines perceptions of gender-related barriers across eight dimensions by engaging InCUBE professionals at three levels within the energy and construction sector:
Macro-level
Macro-level roles represent professionals working within institutions such as public authorities, universities, or research organisations. They focus on shaping policies, setting industry standards, and developing new knowledge that influences the sector at a strategic and systemic level.
Meso-level
Meso-level roles represent professionals in private enterprises or non-governmental organisations, such as architectural firms, construction companies, manufacturing companies, or technology providers. They contribute to implementing, managing, and supporting construction and renovation processes.
Micro-level
Micro-level roles represent professionals directly engaged in on-site construction activities. This includes construction workers, site personnel, and supervisors whose primary responsibilities involve the execution, monitoring, and management of daily renovation tasks.
Key findings
Across all dimensions, women report more barriers than men, showing clear differences in how challenges are experienced in the sector. Overall, 94% of respondents agree that women face barriers when accessing technical and managerial roles. Many women also describe situations where their competence or authority is questioned, especially in leadership or technical positions.
Some challenges are shared across genders. Access to education and training, on-site safety, and work-life balance are highlighted by both men and women, although women report these issues more frequently.
More pronounced differences appear in workplace experience. Workplace discrimination or hostility is reported by 46% of women compared to 9% of men. Similarly, 42% of women report experiencing recruitment bias, compared to 19% of men. Perceptions of the pay gap also differ, with 58% of women attributing it to gender bias in salary setting, compared to 19% of men.
The level of reported challenges also varies by work environment. At the macro level, access to technical or managerial roles (95%) and safety challenges (75%) are most common. At the meso level, barriers to entering technical roles (97%) and accessing education (74%) are most prominent.
At the micro level, all respondents are male and report very low levels of challenges, including 0% reporting workplace discrimination. This likely reflects the absence of women in these environments rather than the absence of bias.