Breaking Gender Stereotype: A Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experiences of Female Civil Engineers in Construction Field

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Currently, women's obligations in the field of industry in the Philippines has been rising unlike before. Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) found that there is a large increase in the number of women who are taking civil engineering for the last ten years. However, engineering said to be a male-dominated profession, making it hard for a woman to enter this profession. Thus, this phenomenological study aims to determine the lived experiences of female civil engineers who are working in the construction field.

METHODS

This study is qualitative research. Particularly, a phenomenological research design was used to examine and understand the views of the participants. The populations of this study were females who had finished a civil engineering course from the locality of Cavite who has at least two years of working experience in the construction site. The data were gathered through a semi-structured interview that is composed of questions formulated through a review of related literature and studies. Thematic Analysis was used to analyze the data gathered.

RESULTS

Based on the data gathered, being a woman, decision making, catcalling, use of language and women are taken, as males create the issues and barriers encountered by women in their workplace. The statement “being a woman” is divided into two themes which are monthly period and pregnancy, which are only experienced by women. On the other hand, the themes formulated for adjustments made by women engineers to cope with those issues and barriers are ignoring the situation, keeping themselves strong, and going with the flow. Moreover, four themes were formulated based on the data gathered from the participants when they were asked on what are their advantages in thefield. Based on the themes, one of the advantages of being a woman in construction is that they are easy to talk to. Second is that they know how to communicate properly which is according to the participant when men are talking, it seems to be bossy compared to them. The third is about being a multitasker.

DISCUSSIONS

The results of the study revealed that females encounter many issues and barriers in the workplace. Some literature and studies have matched with the findings of this study. The researcher also concluded that female civil engineers are admirable since they have shown that they deserve a spot in the male-dominated profession—engineering—and do not allow those issues and barriers to defeat them.