Factors influencing the choice of subsector among women in the construction industry in Kenya: a case of Nairobi County

Abstract

Kenya's industrial sector is conspicuously male-dominated. The balance in the industry is further predicted to remain disparate with regard to gender as participation in technical courses, such as engineering, remains male dominated. In appreciation of the trend, it is necessary to assess the various factors that contribute to this status quo and in so doing, to identify the relationships between the various factors and the choice of participation in the sub-sectors of the industry. This paper focuses on the construction industry. The study assesses the role of education, social networks, work culture and personal traits in informing choice of career within the sub-sectors – road construction, builders works, bridge construction, railway construction and civil works. Respondents of the study were women within Nairobi county. A multinomial logistic regression analysis approach was employed to assess the odds ratios by the various factors of participation within the various sub-sectors of the industry. The influence of the four factors, with the exception of education, was found to best be in the selection of civil works as a preferred career path; education, served as a strong predictor of participation in railway construction. The findings therefore serve to shed light on possible biases by industry as deduced from female participants hence the findings may be useful in understanding the preference of sub-sector by women in the construction industry of Kenya.