Diversity in the upper management of leading Texas contractors

Abstract

Today's society encourages diversification in all aspects of life, including diversity in the workplace. In order to obtain a clear picture of the characteristics of the Texas construction industry's upper management, 264 surveys were emailed and mailed to a group of upper managers representing the top contractors in Texas. This group was composed of 79 companies who were on Engineering News-Record's 2001 Top 400 Contractors List (with an office in Texas) and companies on the Department of Construction Science's Construction Industry Advisory Council at Texas A&M University. 132 surveys were returned and 124 were utilized in the analysis of Position, Career Path, Education Levels, Ethnicity, and Gender. The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics; the chi-square test was used to test distributions of various subgroups. The primary title held by upper managers was Vice President. This group had an average of 24.7 years of construction-related experience and an average age of 49.2 years. The promotion from Vice President to President was analyzed and it was determined that the average number of upper management positions held prior to becoming President was 2.7. The average number of years of construction-related experience of the President subgroup was 26.5 years and the average age was 52.1 years. The majority of upper managers are White, Male, and hold at least a Baccalaureate degree. There were no significant differences found in the distributions of the Education Levels of the overall sample, Gender, Position, or Ethnicity categories. It was found that the Ethnic make up of upper management is not representative of the Ethnic make up of the Texas or national construction workforces, while the Gender make up of upper management is representative of the Gender make up of the Texas and national construction workforces. The data presented characterizes upper management for Texas constructors and enlightens the industry as to its level of diversification.