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Organisations seek to manage and control the dress, appearance and behaviour of their employees for strategic corporate advantage but what are the far‐reaching implications of this for employers and employees? This paper aims to identify the explicit and implicit codes for appearance and behaviour imposed by management and co‐workers.

Adopting a case study approach using ethnographic methods, this research, conducted in a recruitment agency specialising in placing construction industry personnel, draws on data obtained from four in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews with senior managers, a focus group with female employees and participant observation methods, and provides an intriguing insight into the grooming and packaging of female employees. Findings – Findings show this aesthetic and behavioural “packaging” of the female employees comes with consequences for client, employer and employee. The females cannot escape the aesthetic and sexualised image imposed upon them as management strategy and often have no choice but to “perform” for clients to manipulate situations for their own advantage.

Because of the research approach adopted and the relatively small sample size, generalizability is limited. It would be helpful to replicate the study in other settings.

The paper highlights the existence of official and unofficial controls over dress, appearance and behaviour and the pressure exerted on women in the workplace.

Despite initiatives designed to encourage more women, the construction industry and its associated professions remain resolutely male dominated and the situation shows little signs of changing. Reporting on the findings of an exploratory study which examines the transfer of Equality Policy into practice in three European countries: the UK, France and Spain, the purpose of this paper is to provide cross-national comparisons of the implementation of gender initiatives in a single profession, that of architecture.

In total, 66 semi-structured interviews were carried out in the qualitative paradigm with women architects in the UK, France and Spain.

Findings are twofold: first, the research indicates that there are many weaknesses in the support offered and in the design of the initiatives which serve to discourage women rather than encourage them and second, there is a clear need for the dominant body within the industry – the men – to provide the impetus for change.

The research is unique in that it offers a cross-national comparison of the situation within a single profession in a male-dominated industry which has attracted much attention for its lack of diversity and its reluctance to embrace change.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the research presented at the 2016 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Conference in Nicosia, Cyprus.

The report is based on six papers, of interest to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion readers, which were selected from the proceedings and presentations made at the conference. The papers vary in terms of research design, methodology and approach. There was a mix of conceptual/review papers and empirical studies, using both quantitative and qualitative methods.

The papers presented new directions on equality, diversity and inclusion research. Findings from exploratory papers indicated the need to develop an understanding of the notion of solidarity and the divisive and inclusive elements of the enactment of solidarity. Empirical studies reveal that women and people from black and minority ethnic communities continue to be excluded and marginalized, whereas there is a call for greater consideration of age in the social, economic, political and market arenas.

This report integrates unique insights on “Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Human Rights in Times of Austerity”, as these were presented and discussed at the EDI 2016 Conference.

MEMBERS of the Aslib Economic and Business Information Group heard something of the objects and activities of Counter Information Services (producers of ‘anti‐reports’ on rtz, British Leyland, etc) in November. The scheduled speaker having had to withdraw at short notice, Mr Lepper manfully stepped in with a straightforward account of the origins of the organisation in a group of ‘like‐minded’ individuals with diverse backgrounds. No particular organisation was behind it, he said, and those backing it at any given time varied with the subject currently under investigation, as did the personnel—staff and volunteers— undertaking the research.

The nature of construction works has a negative impact on physical, mental and emotional well-being and makes it difficult for the construction industry to attack and retain its workforce. The current study seeks to integrate the current knowledge focused on work–life balance (WLB) in the industry into an understandable whole.

An interpretivist philosophical approach was adopted using a bibliometric review and a narrative review of existing studies from both Scopus and Google databases. The Visualisation of Similarities viewer (VOSviewer) was used to prepare co-occurrence maps from the bibliographic data garnered.

The study reveals that the prominent factors influencing the WLB of the construction workforce are organizational culture, salary earned, heavy workload, long working hours and inflexible working time. The recent WLB discourse is on organisational commitment, job satisfaction and workplace dynamics. While WLB areas for further exploration are job stress, safety performance, employee attrition and an ageing workforce. Meanwhile, Africa and South America are still lagging in WLB research.

The findings reported here will assist stakeholders in identifying appropriate WLB initiatives that can be used to improve the well-being of the construction workforce. Also, the gaps in knowledge for further research were highlighted.

The findings reveal current trends and a road map for future studies on WLB in construction. It also reveals prominent factors influencing the WLB of workers in the construction industry.