Advancing Equality in Engineering: Legal Frameworks, Regulatory Challenges, and Prospects for Gender Justice within Nigeria’s Environmental Jurisprudence

Gender inequality in the engineering profession remains a global challenge, with Nigeria reflecting persistent disparities despite sustained equality initiatives. Women account for less than 15% of registered engineers in Nigeria, a figure that underscores structural, cultural, and institutional barriers restricting entry, retention, and advancement. This paper interrogates these disparities through legal and regulatory lenses, employing feminist legal theory and intersectional analysis to expose their systemic roots. It evaluates international commitments—including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and International Labour Organization conventions on equal remuneration and non-discrimination—alongside Nigerian constitutional guarantees, statutory provisions, and sector-specific regulations. Methodologically, the study combines doctrinal legal analysis with case studies, policy reviews, and regulatory assessments. For instance, it draws on recent regulatory interventions within Nigeria’s power and extractive sectors to show the disjuncture between formal equality norms and the limited enforcement of gender-responsive workplace policies, especially in contexts intersecting with environmental governance. Findings reveal that weak institutional accountability, regulatory inertia, and entrenched cultural norms perpetuate exclusion, while professional resistance sustains occupational segregation. Nonetheless, emerging practices—such as affirmative action in professional licensing, gender-sensitive workplace reforms, and innovative regulatory models—offer promising entry points for reform. The paper concludes by proposing a multi-level strategy that integrates legislative reform, stronger regulatory oversight, institutional capacity building, and sustained advocacy. By explicitly linking gender justice, engineering regulation, and environmental law, the study advances both scholarly discourse and practical frameworks for dismantling systemic barriers and fostering inclusivity in Nigeria’s engineering profession.