From Femi Mustapha, in Kaduna
The Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and the University of Northumbria at Newcastle, United Kingdom, will jointly organize a one-day training workshop for women graduates in construction under the British Council’s Going Global Partnerships program.
The event will be a hybrid and it will be held at the main auditorium of the CBN Centre for Economics and Finance, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, on Tuesday, 14th May, 2024.
Both institutions will deliver the training for the selected stakeholders who will act as women graduates in construction (WGIC) ‘champions’ and transfer their knowledge further to others in the construction industry.
The training workshop is part of the research project jointly handled by the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and the University of Northumbria, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom, which focuses on “Strengthening pathways into employment for women graduates from further and higher education”.
The research partnership, “ARe-SuRe–Gender Diversification of Construction Industry Workfare: Attracting, Supporting, and Retaining Women Graduates”, is supported by a Gender Equality Partnerships grant under the Going Global Partnerships program of the British Council.
Prof. Kulomri Jipato Adogbo of the Department of Quantity Surveying, Faculty of Environmental Design, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, secured the Gender Equality Partnerships grant along with the UK partner in the program, Dr. Ernest Effah Ameyaw of the University of Northumbria, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom.
Adogbo, whose research interests include construction project management, gender studies on women in construction as well as construction contracts and procurement, is the Nigerian lead in the research project.
Prof. Adogbo said in a notification for the training workshop that the event would be the third and final phase of the research project which will be rounded off with a conference being organised by the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors Foundation in Abuja on Thursday, 16th May, 2024.
“We are in a third phase of the project where results from phases one and two will be translated into evidence-based recommendations and training pathways for industry leaders, construction contractor organizations, consultancies, higher education institutions, recruitment managers, women graduates, and the wider industry”, she said.
The Nigerian collaborators in the project include the Lead, Prof. Kulomri Jipato Adogbo; Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; the Deputy Lead, Prof. Joy Joshua Maina, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; and Associated Partner, the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) Foundation.
The Gender Equality Partnerships grants support to higher and further education institutions and sector bodies to progress gender equality, building on the potential of the sector to influence wider society.
For instance, in 2023, the Gender Equality Partnerships supported partnerships and collaboration between the UK and partner countries that include Bangladesh, Pakistan, Peru, South Africa, Nigeria, and Egypt.
