"Diversity and gender inclusivity within a workforce create skills upliftment and knowledgetransfer, which enables organisations to be more competitive on a global platform. With theretention and attraction of qualified and semi-skilled expatriates,organisations benefit from thelarge array of cultural diversity and unique individual skills thus improving organisationalperformance and profitability (Ferreira & Coetzee, 2010).Workforce diversity has evolved not only within the workplace, but in South Africa’sempowerment economic processes. With the incorporation of a streamlined and effectivediversity management plan, organisations can produce a more positive output of substantialbenefits to secure global and local competitiveness. Ethnicity encompassesand recognises theelements of gender, race and beliefs, creating a system of mutual respect and common traits.Because of the labour and human injustices prior to the 1994 democratic elections, the leaders ofthe South African government introduced a stringent set of rules that dealt with thetransformation of employment, gender inequality and broad-based black economicempowerment(BBBEE). 8 | P a g e Chapter 2: Research ProposalA CASE STUDY OF ETHNICITY IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY OF SOUTH AFRICA:WORKFORCE DIVERSITY, GENDER INEQUALITY AND RACE ISSUES2.1 Presentation of topicThis topic will give management an insight into workforce diversity issues prevalent across theSouth African construction industry (“the industry”), while also providing an in-depth view of theongoing challenges and issues that employees experience in this industry regarding race,discrimination and gender inequalities (Bernard et al., 2016). The chosen data and analysis planwill bring into context the rationale and objectives that will be pursued for the research proposal.IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDYIn the current working environment the workforce has become more diverse. This has resulted inwider employee knowledge, skills, experience and attitude which will allow organisations tobecome more competitive globally (Easterby-Smith et al., 2012). It is crucial for organisations inthe industry to attract and retain staff from diverse cultural groups to improve their employeeperformance and the organisation’s competitive advantage(Ferreira & Coetzee, 2010).It is important to know whether women are still being discriminated against in the constructionindustry because all genders should be treated equally in the workplace. It is important to findout whether the problems are being seriouslyaddressed.2.2 Research questions9 | P a g e 1. How do employees perceive workplace diversity in the South African construction industry? 2. Do employees’ views of workplace diversity differ based on their race within the SouthAfrican construction industry?3. Do employees’ views of workplace diversity differ based on their gender within the SouthAfrican construction industry?4. Do employees’ views of workplace diversity differ based on their age within the South Africanconstruction industry?5. What challenges are management dealing with in the South African construction industry toeffectively address workplace diversity and gender inequality?2.3 Research objectives1 – To determine whether there is a statistical significant difference in how employees in theSouth African construction industry perceive workplace diversity. 2 – To determine whether is a statistical significant difference in how employees in the SouthAfrican construction industry perceive workplace diversity based on race. 3 – To determine whether there is a statistical significant difference in how employees viewworkplace diversity in the South African construction industry based on their gender.4 – To determine whether there is a statistical significant difference in how employees perceiveworkplace diversity in the construction industry of South Africa based on age.5 – To determine whether there is a statistical significant variation in how management isaddressing challenges to effectively address workplace diversity and gender inequality.10 | P a g e 2.4 HypothesesThe formulation of this research topic by the researchers has been deconstructed to form theframework of this particular study. A multi-variation technique was used to test the majorvariables to avoid and eliminate assumptions and false judgements, thus allowing the researcherto make proper and informed decisions regarding the data sampling from the various targetpopulations or sampling mechanisms (Easterby-Smith et al., 2012).The hypotheses for this study are as follows: H1 – Hypothesis 1:There is a statistical significant difference in how employees in the South African constructionindustry perceive workplace diversity. H2 – Hypothesis 2:There is a statistical significant difference in how employees in the South African constructionindustry perceive workplace diversity based on race. H3 – Hypothesis 3: There is a statistical significant difference in how employees view workplace diversity in theSouth African construction industry based on their gender.H4 – Hypothesis 4:There is a statistical significant difference in how employees perceive workplace diversity in theconstruction industry of South Africa based on age.11 | P a g e "