A Study on Causes of Gender Gap in Construction Management: High School Students’ Knowledge and Perceptions across Genders

This paper addresses three research questions: (1) According to the pertinent literature, what are the main causes of the current gender gap in the construction industry, particularly for management and leadership roles? (2) Is there a significant difference between male and female high-school-age students regarding their level of knowledge of the construction industry? (3) Is there a significant difference between male and female high-school-age students in their perception of the construction industry and factors impacting their career choice? These research questions are addressed by a review of the literature followed by a discussion of precamp survey results from two consecutive years of a two-week high school summer camp, which is focused on construction science and management. The literature review reveals that the issues are deep-routed and complex but can in general be categorized into two groups: the recruitment and retention of women in construction management and related careers. While the literature review summary in this paper addresses both categories, the focus of the paper remains recruitment, particularly through a study of high school students’ level of knowledge and perceptions of construction management. The pre-camp surveys assessed the participants’ baseline knowledge and perceptions of construction management as a career. The results showed that the knowledge of construction management as a career is very low, with no statistically significant difference between genders. It must be noted here that the participants are biased positively toward the construction management and related careers, as they chose to attend the camp for a variety of reasons, from wanting an experience on the campus of this university to parents’ encouragement. Despite this baseline interest, however, the data show that the participants lacked clarity on what this career really entails. It is suggested, therefore that the general knowledge of this career path across larger and more randomized samples across U.S. will be even lower. The perceptions of the construction industry differed slightly between genders, with females perceiving it as more physically challenging and prioritizing family friendliness when considering career options. In conclusion, both the literature review and the survey data analysis show that the lack of knowledge of this career path, exacerbated by the negative perceptions of the construction industry, contribute to the problem of women not choosing to study construction management. The construction industry continues to make significant improvements in their diversity and inclusion efforts, and there are a variety of paths within the industry for graduates of construction science and management degrees. As such, significant work remains for both the industry and academia to overcome the lack of knowledge and negative perceptions of the industry through increased outreach to better inform high school students, parents, and counselors

Bending, Free Vibration, and Buckling Analysis of Functionally Graded Porous Micro-Plates Using a General Third-Order Plate Theory

Static bending, free vibration and buckling of functionally graded porous micro-plates are investigated using a general third order plate theory. In addition, analytical solutions are obtained using the Navier method. The effect of the material length scale factor and the variation of material property through the thickness direction of plates are considered as well as porosity effects. Three different porosity distributions are considered and the effects of porosity variations are examined in the framework of a general third order plate theory. Numerical results show that the effect of each distribution of porosity is distinguished due to coupling between the heterogeneity of the material properties and the variation of porosity

Investigation of the relationships between perceived causes of COVID-19, attitudes towards vaccine and level of trust in information sources from the perspective of Infodemic: the case of Turkey

Background The main purpose in this study carried out from the perspective of infodemic was to investigate the relationships between individuals' perceived causes of COVID-19, their attitudes towards vaccine and their levels of trust in information sources in terms of various descriptive characteristics. Methods In this cross-sectional and correlational study conducted with 1216 individuals from different provinces of Turkey, the Perception of Causes of COVID-19 (PCa-COVID-19) Scale was used. In addition, a questionnaire including the participants' descriptive characteristics, their attitudes towards vaccine and their level of trust in information sources about Covid-19 was used. Results The mean age of the participants was 35.9 +/- 12.3 years. Of them, 62.5% were women, 59.0% were married, and 62.1% were university graduates. As for their view of having the Covid-19 vaccine, 54.1% thought to have it, 16.2% did not think, and 29.7% were undecided. Although the correlation was not significant, of the participants, those who considered having vaccination mostly trusted YouTube as their source of information. Of the participants, those whose level of trust in government institutions and health professionals was high displayed significantly more favorable attitudes towards vaccine. The participants obtained the highest mean score from the Conspiracy Theories subscale of the PCa-COVID-19 scale. There was a positive and low-level relationship between attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccine, and the Conspiracy Theories (r: 0.214) and Faith Factors (r: 0.066) sub-dimensions of the PCa-COVID-19 Scale. Conclusions The level of vaccine hesitancy in Turkey is at an alarming level, and the virus is defined by moderate conspiracy theories. In this context, in the fight against infodemic, it is critical to implement mechanisms that can reveal misinformation and to plan initiatives that can increase the health literacy levels of societies

Experimental investigation of wake flow field and wind comfort characteristics of fractal wind fences

Wind fences are frequently utilized in many areas from agriculture to traffic safety in order to provide a sheltered region behind. The conventional geometry of wind fences are usually porous with circular or rectangular holes. Recent studies on fractal/multiscale grid geometries, i.e. a geometry that consists of smaller scales that are copies of the whole, show interesting results, indicating a potential towards using these types of grids as wind fences. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the performance of fractal grids as wind fences. For this purpose, four different types of wind fences, three of which have fractal grids, all having the same porosity ratio of 40%, are tested in a wind tunnel. Results of the two-dimensional PIV measurements downstream of each fence are presented. Comparisons of the details of the wake flow structure as well as quantitative comparisons of wind comfort and shelter characteristics up to 10H downstream of fences, where H is the fence height, are also presented. Results show that the jet-wake-wall interactions within the near wake of the fences have a major impact on wind comfort characteristics further downstream. These interactions can potentially be manipulated by custom designing fractal grid fences based on given wind comfort requirements in order to obtain required mean flow and sheltering characteristics