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The General Image and Stereotypes of the Public on the

Construction Industry

Chung-Fah Huang

Department of Civil Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences,

E-mail: jeffrey@kuas.edu.tw

Abstract

This study is to explore the influences of impressions and images of the construction industry by analyzing how the general public currently think about the industry and provide suggestions on how to improve this problem for the references of the government and industry. Totally 785 valid samples were returned. These samples were then analyzed and compared by using independent-samples t-test. The questionnaire result analysis found that (1) more than h alf o f the sa mples found the pla nning,

design and maintenance of construction projects unsatisfactory; (2) more than 60% of the respondents had unpleasant impression of corruptive problems, poor quality and jelly building in the construction industry; (3) the unpleasant stereotypes of the public on the construction industry were mostly caused by the media. These f indings send an al arming message to t he constr uction i ndustry an d require immediate attention and solution.

Keywords:

Stereotypes; Engineering Ethics; Industrial Impressions; Construction Management

1. Introduction

The con struction in dustry i s closely related to the life of t he g eneral pu blic. Al ong wit h t he development of pu blic construction as well as transit ions in the p olitical, econ omic and cul tural contexts, people generally develop certain impressions of the construction industry based on what they have learned from the media or from their educat ional ba ckgrounds. Some of these i mpressions are probably stereotypical impressions accumulated over time. According to previous research, each of us more or less have acqu ired stereotypes about certain jobs or sexual differences since childhood from parents [1][2], TV programs [3], textbooks or children’s books [4-6], teachers [7] and peers [8]. These stereotypical impressions may be reflected in some biased opinions about certain industries.

According to the opinion poll results of the civil servant integrity released by the Ministry of Justice in 2 012 and recen t y ears, a mong the 2 4 catego ries o f civi l ser vants i n go vernmental organ izations, those in char ge of procurement a ffairs or public construction r anked a mong the bot tom three in the integrity ratings [ 9]. In th e “ Social Tr ust Survey”, the l and dev elopment in dustry and co nstruction industry ranked respectively the least and second least trusted industries by the society [10][11]. These findings further prove the lack of trust among the public in the construction industry and the public’s impressions o f the co nstruction in dustry ar e mostly negative. These p roblems are not on ly h ighly alarming but also worthy of attention and discussion from construction engineers. However, there is currently li ttle research analyzing the impressions o f the construction industry t o further understand their details and major factors in order to conceive any feasible solution.

Seeing this problem, this study is intended to explore the i mpressions of the construct ion industry by conducting a questionnaire survey on not only the general public but also construction engineers to explore their opi nions of the construction in dustry. By using SP SS f or descriptive stat istic a nalysis such as frequency d istribution and independent-samples t-test, t he stu dy at tempts t o anal yze an d compare the construction-worker an d no n-construction-worker sa mples in thei r st ereotypes o f t he construction industry as well as find out the influences of the samples’ personal experiences on their impressions of the industry.

2. Research Method

This s tudy condu cted a qu estionnaire s urvey on bo th constr uction wor kers and no n-construction workers and analyzed the differences in their perceptions of the construction industry. When designing the questionnaire, in addition to references from literature review (such as common descriptions of the

The General Image and Stereotypes of the Public on the Construction Industry Chung-Fah Huang

Advances in information Sciences and Service Sciences(AISS) Volume5, Number7, April 2013

doi:10.4156/AISS.vol5.issue7.77

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workers in the industry. Only then can they restore their images, win back respect and trust from the public, and finally rectify the stereotypes of the construction industry.

6. References

[1] Pomerleau, A., Bol duc, D. , Malcuit, G., and Cossette, L., “ Pink or blue : Environmental gender stereotypes in the first two years of life”, Sex Roles, no. 22, pp. 359-367, 1990.

[2] Vogel, D. A., Lake, M. A., Evans, S., and Karraker, K. H., “Children’s and adults’ sex stereotyped perceptions of infants”, Sex Roles, no. 24, pp. 605-616, 1991.

[3] Forge, K. L. S., and Phemister, S., “The cartoons on preschool children”, Child Study Journal, vol. 17, pp. 83-87, 1987.

[4] Jiang, L. L., “Development of Gender Roles from the Perspective of Children’s Books”, Gender Role and Social Development Seminar Essay Collection, Population and Gender Stu dies Center, National Taiwan University, 1989.

[5] Hsu, M. H., “A Preliminary Discussion of Children’s Evaluations of Male and Female Characters in Storybooks”, The Journal of Counseling, no. 11, pp. 312-355, 1988.

[6] Morgan, M., “Sex stereotypes in ch ildren’s l iterature”, Focused Access t o Select ed Topics (FAST), Biography No. 16. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED311424), 1989. [7] Tomini, B. A., and Page, S., “Teacher’s p erception o f st udents’ tr aditional and nont raditional

career choices”, Canadian Journal of Counseling, vol. 28, pp. 154-166, 1994.

[8] Harkness, S., and Super, C. M., “ The cu ltural co ntext o f gender s egregation in chi ldren’s pee r group”, Child Development, no. 56, pp. 219-224, 1985.

[9] Ministry of Justice, The Public’s Ranking of the Integrity of Taiwanese Civil Servants in 2012, http://www.moj.gov.tw/.

[10] Yang, A. L ., “The Recurring Diamond Rule”, Common Wealth Magazine, no. 324 , pp. 108-116, 2005.

[11] Ling Yang, Chuanmin Shua i “ Trust, Co ntract Cont rol and Pr oject Pe rformance in Construction Projects: an Em pirical Study in China”, Advances in in formation Sciences and Service Sciences, vol. 4, no. 7, pp. 90-98, 2012.

[12] Bo, H. L., and Kjell, A. D., Mathematical and statistical methods in reliability, River Edge (World Scientific), NJ London, 2003.

[13] Su, M. H ., “ Measuring the Econ omic Tr ends at Ho me an d Abroad ( VI): Dev elopment o f t he Construction Industry in 2001”, Taiwan Economic Research Monthly, no. 1, p. 31, 2001.

[14] Wang, J. A., Lin, C. C., an d Chang, J. O., “Discussion of the Sy nchronous Development of the Real Estate Market and the General Economy”, Proceedings of the National Science Council, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 35-56, 1997.

[15] ZHANG, L., TI AN, J. a nd WU, Y ., “The Dy namic Eff ect o f E nvironmental Regulation on Construction Industry in China”, Advances in information Sciences and Service Sciences, vol. 4, no. 16, pp. 426-435, 2012.

[16] Wang, X . Z., “ Influences of Parents’ Ge nder Roles, Atti tudes, Gender Ch aracteristics on t he Gender Role Development of Pre-school Children”, a master thesis for the Gradu ate Institute of Home Economics Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City, 1985.

[17] Chang, C. J., “Occupational Sex-role Stereotyping in Elementary School Children”, a thesis for the master program in the Department of Guidance and Counseling, National Changhua University of Education, 1996.

[18] Hsieh, W. L., “ The E ffects of Fe male Car eer Group Coun seling on At titudes abo ut Career o f Female Students in Technical College”, a master thesis for the Graduate Institute of Guidance and Counseling, National Kaohsiung Normal University, Kaohsiung City, 2000.

[19] Wang S. M., “ The St udy o f Vo cational Pr eference Circumscription and Co mpromise-The Verification of Gottf redson''s Th eory”, doctoral d issertation, D epartment of Educational Psychology and Counseling, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City, 1998.

[20] Xu, S . A., “ A S tudy on the Effects o f Gender Role Co unseling C ourses on t he Couns eling for Second-Year Junior High School Girl Students”, a thesis for the master program of the Department of Educatio nal Ps ychology and Co unseling, National Taiwan N ormal Univ ersity, Taip ei Ci ty, 1990.

The General Image and Stereotypes of the Public on the Construction Industry Chung-Fah Huang

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[21] Magnello, M. R., “ Differences in occupat ional in terests fo r psy chology and special education”, ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED3173317, 1981.

[22] Lin, H. T., Theory and Practice of Lifelong Guidance and Counseling, Wunan Publisher, Taipei City, 1987.

[23] Hollander, M. A., and Par ker, H. J ., “Occupational stere otypes and ne eds: Their relationship to vocational choice”, Vocational Guidance Quarterly, no. 18, pp. 91-98, 1969.

[24] George, M. J., and Jones, R. G., Organizational Behavior, Best-wise Publishing, 2004. [25] Schneider, D. J., The psychology of stereotyping, The Guilford Press, New York, 2005. [26] Common Wealth Magazine, “Top 500 Service Providers”, 2011.

Table 1. Questions about Impressions of the Construction Industry and Engineers

No. Questi on/Statement Mean S.D.

1 Generally, the public construction in Taiwan is already well-planned. 3.30 1.40

2 The planning of public construction in Taiwan is quite thorough and detailed. 2.88 1.30

3 The planning of public construction in Taiwan is high-level. 3.33 1.87

4 The design of buildings in Taiwan is e high-level. 3.48 1.40

5 The quality of pubic construction in Taiwan is good. 3.00 1.24

6 The construction quality of buildings in Taiwan is good. 3.22 1.26

7 Generally speaking, the living environment of people in Taiwan is quite comfortable. 3.59 1.57

8 The use and maintenance of public construction in Taiwan is good. 2.99 1.84

9 The use and maintenance of buildings in Taiwan is good. 3.13 1.33

10 People in the construction industry are bricklayers and plasters. 3.57 1.61

11 The construction industry is rather profitable. 4.42 1.40

12 The construction industry is th e industrial lo comotive in Taiwan, g iving m omentums to development of related industries. 5.25 2.71

13 The construction industry is very promising. 4.46 1.31

14 Companies in the construction industry are conscientious. 3.33 1.37

15 Most of the construction companies in Taiwan are legitimate and righteous companies. 3.75 1.53

16 The construction industry has problems of gangster involvement. 5.30 1.61

17 The construction industry has problems of collusion with corrupt governmental officials. 5.50 1.19

18 It rel ies more on capabilities th an c onnections for a cons truction company to win project commissions. 4.22 1.65

19 Networking is quite important in the construction industry. 5.74 1.07

20 The construction industry is a high-tech industry. 4.81 1.31

21 The construction industry is suitable for internationalization. 5.11 1.27

22 The construction industry is a dangerous one. 5.20 2.52

23 The construction industry requires creativity. 5.31 1.19

24 The working environment of the construction industry is more untidy and dirty than those in other industries. 4.79 1.34

25 Construction projects often have the problems of jelly-building. 4.99 1.35

26 The problem of low-price bid competition is common in the construction industry. 5.45 1.14

27 The general know-how and capabilities of Taiwan’s construction industry are not as good as those of construction industries in some Asian countries, like Japan. 4.63 1.44

28 Construction projects often cast a negative influence on the environment and ecology. 5.01 1.26

29 Construction engineers are vulgar. 3.91 1.44

30 Construction engineers make significant contributions to the country. 5.35 1.55

31 Working in the construction industry is more demanding than in other industries. 5.11 1.33

32 I am interested in or willing to have long-term career development in construction industry. 4.05 2.82

33 Construction engineers often need to change their working locations. 5.38 1.14

34 Construction engineers are people of honesty and integrity. 3.79 1.39

35 Construction engineers are quite respectable. 4.92 1.32

36 Females are relatively unsuitable for career development in the construction industry. 3.93 1.58

37 Based on wha t y ou have lea rned or perc eived, do y ou think construction engin eers hav e good social statuses or images in Taiwan? 5.60 0.97 [Sample size =758]

The General Image and Stereotypes of the Public on the Construction Industry Chung-Fah Huang

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Table 2. Independent-samples t-test Results of the Samples’ Impressions of the Construction Industry

Question Sa mple Type Mean S.D. t-value

1. Generally, the public construction in Taiwan is

already well-planned. Non-Construction-workerConstruction-worker 3.52 3.18 1.3 1.47 4 -3.137**

2. The planning of public construction in Taiwan is

quite thorough and detailed. Non-Construction-workerConstruction-worker 3.07 2.78 1.2 1.36 5 -3.008**

4. The design of buildings in Taiwan is high-level. Non-Construction-workerConstruction-worker 3.68 3.38 1.3 1.44 6 -2.827**

5. The quality of public construction in Taiwan is

good. Non-Construction-workerConstruction-worker 3.22 2.88 1.2 1.26 1 -3.612**

11. The construction industry is very profitable. Non-Construction-workerConstruction-worker 3.91 4.69 1.2 1.48 8 7.231**

13. The construction industry is very promising. Non-Construction-workerConstruction-worker 4.12 4.63 1.1 1.45 9 4.897**

14. Companies in the construction industry are

conscientious. Non-Construction-workerConstruction-worker 3.59 3.19 1.3 1.41 3 -3.884**

24. The working environment of the construction industry is more untidy and dirty than those in other industries.

Non-Construction-worker 4.59 1.2 8

-5.707**

Construction-worker 5.16 1.37

25. Construction projects often have “jelly-building”

problems. Non-Construction-workerConstruction-worker 4.22 5.27 1.2 1.44 0 6.925**

30. Construction engineers make significant

contributions to the country. Non-Construction-workerConstruction-worker 5.65 5.19 1.6 1.19 9 -3.926**

31. Working in the construction industry is more

demanding than in other industries. Non-Construction-workerConstruction-worker 5.56 4.87 1.3 1.21 2 -7.024**

32. I am interested in or willing to have long-term

career development in the construction industry. Non-Construction-workerConstruction-worker 4.87 3.62 3.2 1.41 6 -5.953**

33. Construction engineers often need to change their

work locations. Non-Construction-workerConstruction-worker 5.67 5.22 1.1 1.12 1 -5.234**

34. Construction engineers are people of honesty and

integrity. Non-Construction-workerConstruction-worker 4.09 3.63 1.3 1.48 1 -4.385**

35. Construction engineers are quite respectable. Non-Construction-workerConstruction-worker 5.34 4.69 1.2 1.29 8 -6.555**

*p<0.05 **p<0.01 [Sample size= 758, only questions with significant differences are listed] Table 3. Influences of Experience Source Differences on Stereotypes

Question Source Type Mean S.D. t-value

2. The planning of public construction in Taiwan is quite thorough and detailed.

Source C 3.18 1.26 2.374*

Non-Source C 2.62 1.18

Source D 2.25 .91 -3.786**

Non-Source D 2.86 1.26

4. The design of buildings in Taiwan is high-level. Non-Source D Source D 2.98 3.48 1.11 1.39 -2.702**

5. The quality of public construction in Taiwan is good.

Source C 3.30 1.21 2.087*

Non-Source C 2.83 1.17

Source D 2.46 .93 -3.690**

Non-Source D 3.05 1.23

14. Companies in the construction industry are conscientious. Non-Source C Source C 3.85 3.12 1.30 1.30 2.967**

25. Construction projects often have the problems of

jelly-building. Non-Source D Source D 5.51 5.12 1.17 1.26 2.065*

*p<0.05 **p<0.01 [Sample Size=318, only questions with significant differences are listed] The General Image and Stereotypes of the Public on the Construction Industry

Chung-Fah Huang

數據

Table 1.  Questions about Impressions of the Construction Industry and Engineers
Table 2. Independent-samples t-test Results of the Samples’ Impressions of the Construction Industry

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