Decoding Factors That Contribute to Gender Discrimination in Architecture Profession in Nigeria

Abstract

The building and construction industry is one of the most significant sectors contributing to Nigeria’s economic and infrastructural development. Also, it is the third-largest employer of skilled and unskilled labour within the country. Architecture as a profession is a subset of the construction industry, and as obtained in other allied fields of the building and construction industry, the sector is typically male-dominated which thrives due to the highly patriarchal society borne out of religion, tradition, and culture. Hence, this study aims to determine the existence and factors that predict gender discrimination in Nigeria’s architecture industry. The result of the multiple regression analysis shows that there was a statistically significant amount of variance in workplace discrimination, such that F(2, 47) = 10.39, p = 0.0002, R2 = 0.306, R2 adjusted = 0.277. While that of the correlation analysis shows that there was a moderately positive correlation between workplace discrimination and constraining factors r(48) = 0.48, p = 0.0004. This showed that several constraining (cultural and religious) factors, including sociocultural norms, values, and religious elements, contributed to the low involvement and gender-based workplace discrimination in professional architecture.