KENNESAW, Ga. | Aug 20, 2018

Dr. Siddiqi recently spoke to the participants of Construction's Workforce Crisis - Georgia's Industry Trends Symposium, organized by the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of Georgia. The event was held at Maggiano’s Little Italy, Cumberland Mall on August 7, 2018.  A large cross-section of Atlanta’s construction industry organizations participated. 

Cynthia Mills, founder and Principal of leadership development consulting group The Leaders’ Haven, along with Laura Ashby, an experienced litigator with Miller & Martin, Dr. Khalid Siddiqi, Chair of Kennesaw State University’s Department of Construction Management, and Margaret Rauber, Vice President of Operations at Winter Construction, addressed ABC of Georgia members on ways and means of tackling the issue from both a theoretical and a practical perspective.

Dr. Siddiqi shared the results of his research paper “Best Practices for Attracting and Retaining Female Construction Project Managers”, which he co-authored along with Kennesaw State MS CM Program Graduate, Casey Stockbridge and Tom Jollay of Bennett and Thrasher.

Their research showed the challenges of not just recruiting women into construction management but retaining them. “Women leave the industry at a much higher rate than men,” Siddiqi explained. “Our research revealed some of the reasons why.” Siddiqi listed the top 5 key differences between men and women when it comes to views about their employer. While some of these differences involved common tenets of company policy, such as anti-sexual harassment policies and alternative work schedules, others were more surprising (for instance, 82% of males but only 59% of females care about a company vehicle.) Dr. Siddiqi shared some proven best practices for attracting and retaining female project managers in construction industry organizations.