Contribution of women engineers towards sustainable building construction in Nairobi City County, Kenya

While the construction industry is committed to increasing women’s participation in sustainable building construction, their contributions remain largely misunderstood, undefined, and undervalued throughout various phases of building construction. This study assessed the contribution of women engineers towards sustainable building in Nairobi City in Kenya. Qualitative methods were used to gather data for this research. Women engineers in Nairobi constituted the target population of the study. This research used a purposive sampling method to select sixteen (16) participants, among them eight (8) were women engineers from La Femme Engineering Services Ltd (LFE), four (4) others from outside LFE, and four (4) male engineers, key informants who held potential knowledge in the building construction industry. Data was collected through an interview guide, a checklist observation, a key informant guide, and a content analysis guide. The Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) Miner Lite software was utilised to create codes and perform data analysis based on thematic and content analysis. The findings illustrated the lived experiences of participants across three worksites, including the head office of LFE, Zimmerman, and Ruiru apartments. The results revealed that women significantly contribute to innovation and creativity, eco-friendly materials and energy efficiency, and leadership and management. The research concluded that women engineers contributed significantly to sustainable building construction in terms of… The research ends with recommendations including institutionalising mentorship programs, leadership roles and gender sensitive policy.