110 *Peer Reviewed Gender Diversity in Real Estate Education: Evidence from an African Higher Education Institution Augustina Chiwuzie 1 ; Daniel Ibrahim Dabara 2 ; Olusegun Adebayo Ogunba 3 and Jonas Hahn 4 1 The Federal Polytechnic Ede, Nigeria (okaugusta@yahoo.com; chiwuzie.augustina@federalpolyede.edu.ng) 2 Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom (idaniel@brookes.ac.uk) 3 Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria (seogunba@gmail.com) 4 Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany (jonas.hahn@fb1.fra-uas.de) Abstract Workspace inclusivity remain critical in promoting diversity and dynamism across all sectors of the economy. Despite recent progress, gender disparities persist in the real estate sector, including education and training programmes. This study employs a quantitative research design to investigate gender diversity in real estate education at Federal Polytechnic Ede, Nigeria. The study focuses on female students’ enrolment in real estate programmes from 2009 to 2022, their experiences, perceptions and career prospects. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 138 out of all the 150 female students currently enrolled in the programmes. The findings indicate that the gender structure of real estate student enrolments is inclusive. Female enrolments have steadily increased and are stable below 50 per cent over the last thirteen years. However, female students face a lack of mentorship opportunities and perceive gender discrimination and bias in the real estate industry. These factors influence female students’ self-esteem, motivation, and career opportunities in the real estate industry. This paper contends that the real estate sector must become more diverse. A proactive dedication to inclusivity, mentorship and the willingness to challenge existing norms and biases in the industry is needed to enable women to pursue real estate career. Keywords: Career decision; equity and inclusivity; female student enrolments; real estate industry. Introduction Inequalities along gender lines are critical concerns in today’s global educational and professional environments. These issues have gained prominence recently as women face challenges in employment (Wieczorek-Szymanska, 2020), including education and social activities (Lombardi, 2017). Workspace equality and inclusivity remain essential in promoting diversity and dynamism across all sectors of the economy. Norberg and Johansson (2021) demonstrated that an environment with diverse teams and perspectives outperforms those that need to implement gender-related strategies effectively. Diversity and inclusion are priorities for high-performing organisations because they foster innovation (Ritter-Hayashi and Vermeulen, 2019), reduce interpersonal bias (Nishii, 2012), improve decision-making and outcomes (Clack and Gabler, 2019) and lead to the establishment of sustainable societies (Ceylan, 2020). However, despite a growing appreciation for diversity and inclusivity in various sectors, the real estate industry is still one of the most segregated worldwide (Mosimanegape and Ijasan, 2022). According to Oladapo (2017), the real estate sector has been predominantly male-dominated, with limited representation and participation of women. Poon and Brownlow (2016) also submitted that women are under- represented and lack career prospects in the construction industry. Ugwulebo (2011) noted that the gender gap in the workplace began during the training phase. Adogbo et al. (2015) and Bigelow et al. (2015) have shown that the percentages of female enrolments in construction-related disciplines