Impact of Crew Diversity on Worker Information Access and Performance

Bassam Ramadan; Hala Nassereddine; Timothy Taylor; Paul Goodrum

doi:10.22260/ISARC2023/0043

Impact of Crew Diversity on Worker Information Access and Performance

Bassam Ramadan, Hala Nassereddine, Timothy Taylor, Paul Goodrum

Civil Engineering

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Labor shortage has consistently been a challenge in the construction industry for decades. As a data-heavy industry, information access and technological innovations are critical for pique performance. Currently, the industry is witnessing a global trend of workforce diversity, as industry leaders are emphasizing its importance. Research shows that gender and ethnic diversity and inclusion strategies can mitigate the impact of the construction labor shortage. Despite the importance and potential benefits of crew diversity, no research has yet studied how crew diversity impacts the worker’s perceived difficulty of the process to access needed information, and their performance. The objective of this paper is to analyze and understand the impact of crew diversity on 1) the difficulty of the process to access information 2) the self-evaluated performance record and, of construction craft workers and construction frontline supervisors in the construction industry. To achieve the research objective, 2394 construction craft workers and frontline supervisors were surveyed using an online questionnaire. The survey participants were asked to self-evaluate 1) the difficulty of the process to receive or get access to information, and 2) their work personal performance record. The participants were asked to report the ethnic and gender composition of their work crew. The collected data was then analyzed. Key findings indicate that the gender and ethnic crew diversity showed a statistically significant positive impact on worker’s information access and performance.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 40th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, ISARC 2023
Editors	Borja Garcia de Soto, Vicente Gonzalez, Ioannis Brilakis
Pages	309-316
Number of pages	8
ISBN (Electronic)	9780645832204
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.22260/ISARC2023/0043
State	Published - 2023
Event	40th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, ISARC 2023 - Chennai, India Duration: Jul 5 2023 → Jul 7 2023

Publication series

Name	Proceedings of the International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction
ISSN (Electronic)	2413-5844

Conference

Conference	40th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, ISARC 2023
Country/Territory	India
City	Chennai
Period	7/5/23 → 7/7/23

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the Construction Industry Institute (CII) for their valuable support and partial funding for the data collection of this research project, and the college of engineering at the University of Kentucky for continuous support. The authors would also like to thank all the survey participants, without whom this research would not be possible. Any opinions, findings, conclusions and recommendations expressed by the authors in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Kentucky or the Construction Industry Institute.

Publisher Copyright:
© ISARC 2023. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Crew Diversity
Information Access
Performance
Technology

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Control and Systems Engineering
Civil and Structural Engineering
Building and Construction
Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
Computer Science Applications
Artificial Intelligence

Access to Document

10.22260/ISARC2023/0043

Cite this

Ramadan, B., Nassereddine, H., Taylor, T., & Goodrum, P. (2023). Impact of Crew Diversity on Worker Information Access and Performance. In B. Garcia de Soto, V. Gonzalez, & I. Brilakis (Eds.), Proceedings of the 40th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, ISARC 2023 (pp. 309-316). (Proceedings of the International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction). https://doi.org/10.22260/ISARC2023/0043

Ramadan, Bassam ; Nassereddine, Hala ; Taylor, Timothy et al. / Impact of Crew Diversity on Worker Information Access and Performance. Proceedings of the 40th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, ISARC 2023. editor / Borja Garcia de Soto ; Vicente Gonzalez ; Ioannis Brilakis. 2023. pp. 309-316 (Proceedings of the International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction).

@inproceedings{2c4ea4eccee44dc6af83a556f28a2bfe,

title = "Impact of Crew Diversity on Worker Information Access and Performance",

abstract = "Labor shortage has consistently been a challenge in the construction industry for decades. As a data-heavy industry, information access and technological innovations are critical for pique performance. Currently, the industry is witnessing a global trend of workforce diversity, as industry leaders are emphasizing its importance. Research shows that gender and ethnic diversity and inclusion strategies can mitigate the impact of the construction labor shortage. Despite the importance and potential benefits of crew diversity, no research has yet studied how crew diversity impacts the worker{\textquoteright}s perceived difficulty of the process to access needed information, and their performance. The objective of this paper is to analyze and understand the impact of crew diversity on 1) the difficulty of the process to access information 2) the self-evaluated performance record and, of construction craft workers and construction frontline supervisors in the construction industry. To achieve the research objective, 2394 construction craft workers and frontline supervisors were surveyed using an online questionnaire. The survey participants were asked to self-evaluate 1) the difficulty of the process to receive or get access to information, and 2) their work personal performance record. The participants were asked to report the ethnic and gender composition of their work crew. The collected data was then analyzed. Key findings indicate that the gender and ethnic crew diversity showed a statistically significant positive impact on worker{\textquoteright}s information access and performance.",

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author = "Bassam Ramadan and Hala Nassereddine and Timothy Taylor and Paul Goodrum",

note = "Funding Information: The authors gratefully acknowledge the Construction Industry Institute (CII) for their valuable support and partial funding for the data collection of this research project, and the college of engineering at the University of Kentucky for continuous support. The authors would also like to thank all the survey participants, without whom this research would not be possible. Any opinions, findings, conclusions and recommendations expressed by the authors in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Kentucky or the Construction Industry Institute. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} ISARC 2023. All rights reserved.; 40th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, ISARC 2023 ; Conference date: 05-07-2023 Through 07-07-2023",

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Ramadan, B, Nassereddine, H , Taylor, T & Goodrum, P 2023, Impact of Crew Diversity on Worker Information Access and Performance. in B Garcia de Soto, V Gonzalez & I Brilakis (eds), Proceedings of the 40th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, ISARC 2023. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, pp. 309-316, 40th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, ISARC 2023, Chennai, India, 7/5/23. https://doi.org/10.22260/ISARC2023/0043

Impact of Crew Diversity on Worker Information Access and Performance. / Ramadan, Bassam; Nassereddine, Hala ; Taylor, Timothy et al.
Proceedings of the 40th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, ISARC 2023. ed. / Borja Garcia de Soto; Vicente Gonzalez; Ioannis Brilakis. 2023. p. 309-316 (Proceedings of the International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

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AB - Labor shortage has consistently been a challenge in the construction industry for decades. As a data-heavy industry, information access and technological innovations are critical for pique performance. Currently, the industry is witnessing a global trend of workforce diversity, as industry leaders are emphasizing its importance. Research shows that gender and ethnic diversity and inclusion strategies can mitigate the impact of the construction labor shortage. Despite the importance and potential benefits of crew diversity, no research has yet studied how crew diversity impacts the worker’s perceived difficulty of the process to access needed information, and their performance. The objective of this paper is to analyze and understand the impact of crew diversity on 1) the difficulty of the process to access information 2) the self-evaluated performance record and, of construction craft workers and construction frontline supervisors in the construction industry. To achieve the research objective, 2394 construction craft workers and frontline supervisors were surveyed using an online questionnaire. The survey participants were asked to self-evaluate 1) the difficulty of the process to receive or get access to information, and 2) their work personal performance record. The participants were asked to report the ethnic and gender composition of their work crew. The collected data was then analyzed. Key findings indicate that the gender and ethnic crew diversity showed a statistically significant positive impact on worker’s information access and performance.

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Ramadan B, Nassereddine H , Taylor T, Goodrum P. Impact of Crew Diversity on Worker Information Access and Performance. In Garcia de Soto B, Gonzalez V, Brilakis I, editors, Proceedings of the 40th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, ISARC 2023. 2023. p. 309-316. (Proceedings of the International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction). doi: 10.22260/ISARC2023/0043

Impact of Crew Diversity on Worker Information Access and Performance

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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