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During The 1980's The Enterprise Culture Saw More Women Entering ...


During the 1980's the enterprise culture saw more women entering male-dominated professions. Greed's 1991 research into the position of women in surveying questioned whether more women entering the profession might mean a noticeable alteration in terms of the potential influence they might have. This relatively recent emphasis on team work and communication was epitomised in 1994 by the publication of the Latham Report ‘Constructing the Team' by Sir Michael Latham. ‘Constructing the Team' was a combined industry and government report aiming to improve customer services through teamwork. Its principles concerning communication between women and men are very much followed in today's practice.It proposed that the industry was unproductive and fragmented, not providing good customer service, and lacking respect for its employees.The Latham report set the agenda for reform and gave the industry targets. It inspired the beginning of further reformation such as the Construction Industry Board; the Construction Best Practice Programme', ‘The Movement for Innovation' and ‘Constructing Excellence'.17 (McCullam, H.D., 2004).
In 1998 the Egan report was published. The Egan Report, Rethinking Construction was commissioned by John Prescott and produced by Sir John Egan's Construction Task Force. Its central message was that ‘through the application of best practices, the industry and its clients can collectively act to improve their performance.' (Egan, J., 1998) It proposed the creation of a "movement for change" which would be a ‘dynamic, inspirational, non-institutionalised body of people who truly believe in the need for radical improvement within the construction industry.'18 (Egan, J., 1998) .
This leaves the current situation in a limbo where initiatives are trying to work in favour of women, but are still felt to be hampered by attitudes of the past. The construction workplace is by no means yet transformed. It is still seen by the majority as a traditionally male-dominated field where the worst male chauvinist behavioural traits are present including bad language, sexual harassment, and mean-spirited attitudes toward women. In his book, Construction Workers USA, Applebaum presents a bleak picture of contemporary life on a construction site for women:
Sexual harassment in various forms is a fact of working life for many construction tradeswomen. Women's complaints include sexual assault, being touched in sexual ways, working around pictures of naked and near-naked women, and unwanted sexual remarks. Women tell of pranks, the spreading of rumours, threats of physical harm, and more subtle forms of sexual harassment such as staring at their breasts. Women have had condoms put on their car aerials, oil poured in their coat pockets and their tools welded to their work benches. 19(Applebaum 1999, p.133).
As he then questions: ‘Why should any woman want to subject herself to work in such a bad environment from her point of view?


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