More women are being encouraged to become construction workers amid the housing shortage in Australia, but they face major hurdles in a male-dominated industry.

That is the conclusion of a new report by the University of Sydney, commissioned by the National Association of Women in Construction.

Women make up only 13 per cent of the residential building industry workforce, but the federal government is pushing for thousands more to join to help close a skills shortfall.

But the research, partly based on the experiences of women working in the industry, says the construction sector is lagging behind others in recruiting and retaining women.

A “career-breaking” challenge facing female building workers is parental leave, with some even putting off having children to fit around the job.

Several women interviewed said they had waited until they had been promoted to a particular level, or been with the company for several years, before trying to become pregnant.

The study’s co-author Natalie Galea says the industry’s strong health and safety culture doesn’t extend to pregnant workers.

“Many of the women we spoke to were the first in their workplace to take parental leave and received little support from managers who lacked knowledge and experience,” she said.

“In fact, they reported serious issues including forced disclosures, withheld promotions, demotions and redundancies.

“Even in supportive workplaces, there are widespread issues including inadequate health and safety policies, lack of basic amenities, such as women’s toilets and lactation rooms, and lack of clear and transparent parental leave policies.”

The report’s authors are urging the NSW government to consider an industry levy to fund parental leave, especially for small businesses and sole traders, to help tackle the problem.