CIB is delighted to announce Nazanin Kordestani as the winner of the inaugural CIB Keith Hampson ECR-Industry Award.
Nazanin is an early career researcher at Massey University, New Zealand, and is also President of the Massey CIB Student Chapter. Her award will lead her to research the Work-Life Balance (WLB) of Women Professionals in the New Zealand Construction Industry and Potential Opportunities for Improvement.
Generously endowed by Keith Hampson, CIB President from 2019 to 2022, and announced during the World Building Congress 2022 hosted by RMIT in Melbourne, the award aims to recognise and encourage industry collaboration by Early Career Researchers (ECRs),
In announcing the award Keith Hampson said:
I’m delighted that the first Hampson Early Career-Industry Award is made to Nazanin Kordestani from Massey University, New Zealand.
Knowledge development and business application go hand-in-hand in addressing the challenges of our world, so research and industry working in collaboration must be a part of the solution.
The challenge in securing a capable and committed workforce for the future is fundamental – and encouraging our young researchers to work side-by-side with industrial partners is a vital part of that. I congratulate Nazanin and her team for this inaugural award for which I’m proud to partner with the CIB in sponsoring this perpetual award.
The Award Committee, consisting of Keith Hampson, Alison Nicholl of Constructing Excellence in the UK and Srinath Perera, CIB’s Future Leader Network lead, were impressed with the quality of the submissions, and will provide Nazanin with additional mentorship to ensure a global context to her work.
“Winning an industry-related award may open up new opportunities for our team as the PhD researcher and students. In addition to enhancing our profile, it also improves the partnership between academia and industry. We expect to be able to make a tiny contribution to improved industry-academia communication as the first team to receive the CIB Hampson ECR-Industry Award.”
Nazanin Kordestani
Michael Behm, CIB’s outgoing Programme Director, reflected on the subject of Nazanin’s research saying:
“This is an important topic CIB leadership has discussed in the past 3 years; her research, with New Zealand industry engagement, will serve as a solid foundation for a global perspective and impact”
Below is a summary of the research Nazanin is undertaking:
Work-Life Balance (WLB) of Women Professionals in the New Zealand Construction Industry and Potential Opportunities for Improvement
The construction industry is perceived as unfriendly and difficult-to-sustain for workers. This could be attributed to the fact that the industry’s nature consists of long working hours, inflexible schedules, and complex tasks. Women in workforces, especially, sacrifice their life responsibilities to handle workloads and meet deadlines. This situation causes a poor work-life balance (WLB) and puts lots of mental and physical pressure on them. Although New Zealand is now known as a country where people enjoy a high level of WLB, well-being has been consistently identified as one of the essential diversity issues over the years. To attract and retain women’s talents in the construction industry, it is crucial to address the matter of WLB better. Therefore, this project aims to investigate potential strategies and opportunities for improving the WLB of women in New Zealand’s construction industries.
