The success of every built environment project is closely dependent on strong collective cooperation. Yet weak collective cooperation in the built environment sector is amply supported by anecdotal and academic evidence. This weak collective cooperation has been attributed to various factors, but several studies consistently highlight the roles of (i) differences in collective cooperative behaviour and (ii) a disputative male-dominated work environment unattractive to cooperation-enhancing female workers. Such studies have hitherto focused on the organizational level. To date no research in the built environment field has focused on either individual-level differences in individualism/collectivism that affect cooperativeness, or on how gender may interact with these individual-level traits. In this research we seek to make a novel contribution by using the individual rather than organization as the unit of analysis. We first test the possibility that the built environment industry may in fact attract uncooperative individuals who are more individualistic than collectivist. Second, we assess the interaction of individualism/collectivism with gender on the occupational attractiveness of the built environment sector. We then examine the occupational attractiveness of two specimen built environment subsectors, i.e. construction management and architecture, and employ a nuanced distinction between, respectively, horizontal and vertical individualism/collectivism. Using individual-level data (N=548), we find both subsectors are occupationally attractive to individuals from opposite ends of the horizontal and vertical individualism/collectivism spectrums, and that there are interactions with gender. We argue that our findings highlight both an individual-level potential source of poor intra- and inter-organizational-level cooperation in the built environment sector, and also the need for the sector to address persistently low female recruitment and retention rates.
Dericks, GerardPhua, Florence T.T.
Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment
Year of publication: 2020Date of RADAR deposit: 2020-04-16