Challenges Facing Graduate Structural Engineers in the Building Construction Industry in Kenya

Abstract

Despite a number of challenges, training institution Kenya has produced structural engineers in the building and construction field. As a result, there have been problems facing these apprentices that have led to questions concerning their competencies in the Kenyan building and construction industry. Mitigating such foreseeable problems, require proper policy planning, which can only be enacted after findings of facts have been adduced. The purpose of this study was therefore to determine the challenges facing university trained structural engineers in the construction industry in Kenya. The research design in the study was cross-sectional survey research design. Purposive sampling was employed in collecting the data. The study population comprised practicing structural engineers trained at the universities offering building construction, civil engineering and structural engineering. Questionnaires were used to collected data from the sampled respondents in the building industry. Proportional analysis techniques and statistical chi-square test was used to analyze the data. Information on problems facing the engineers and perception of the engineering graduates concerning university training were collected from 89 Kenyan university trained practicing Structural engineers. The data collected was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 23.0) presented inform of descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, frequency distribution, cross-tabulation and Chi-square (c2) tests. The results obtained revealed that, graduates had problems related to initial choice of the course, for which they did not have interest in and hence poor content coverage. These results demonstrate the need for establishment of a clear policy aimed at regulating the learning resources for structural engineers at the universities appropriately. Moreover, there is need for standard resources for the teaching of the programme and the need for higher educational funding scheme for research in the universities.