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The under-representation of women in construction necessitates academia’s understanding of what influences a female’s decision to remain in a construction management (CM) program. Many factors that retain women in CM programs have been identified. Understanding which of these factors are most influential is an important step towards increasing the number of women in CM. This study used a quantitative approach to explore the factors that have been previously identified to retain female students in CM programs; however, qualitative methods were also used to identify additional retention factors. The research was completed through a self-administered, researcher-designed survey of female CM students at five major universities. The results provide a prioritized ranking of the factors identified to retain female students. They indicated that the most positively influential factors for females to remain in a CM undergraduate degree program are: the community of students, lab classes, internships, innovation in the classroom, and student organizations. Job/Career opportunities also emerged as a positively influential factor for retention of female students that was previously not identified in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite initiatives to recruit and retain females in construction management (CM), women are underrepresented in both CM education and the construction industry as a whole. This study explored the factors that are most influential in attracting female students to CM degree programs. The study sample comprised female students (n = 90) enrolled in CM education programs at five universities. Data were used to investigate the factors, identified through a review of previous research, that were most influential in female student decision making to pursue a CM degree program. Sixteen factors were identified. The research supported these factors as positively influential, however, as expected, some factors clearly had greater positive influence than others. The two most influential factors in female selection of a CM degree program were identified as: internships and awareness of career opportunities. Having a father in the industry and non-internship work experiences were also seen as two highly positively influential factors. The results suggest these factors should be the emphasis of efforts to recruit female students as they are most likely to positively influence them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]