CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Gender, as a socio-cultural rather than biological construction, refers to socially
constructed roles and learned behaviors and expectations associated with males and
females, it is widely seen to affect the home, education and work spheres. In most
societies, there are gender differences between women and men in decision-making
opportunities, responsibilities assigned, activities undertaken, access to, and control over
resources. Therefore, gender differentials arises when the relationship between women
and men, their roles, privileges, status and positions are identified and analyzed, it arises
where inequalities are shown to exist between people purely on the bases of their being
female or male. Within the workforce, there exist gender gaps between men and women
in employment, promotion, selection for appointment among others and women are
battling to become equal with men. As a result, women have made enormous advances in
education and career but equality in the workplace still eludes them.
Today, it is common therefore to find women and men all over the world in different
professions and at different levels competing with each other. Despite the remarkable
increase in the existence of women and men in various occupations and the tertiary
institutions in particular, the entry of women into workforce environs and higher
managerial positions remains low to men. For instance, throughout the European Union-
27, women are thus relatively more present at the lower levels of the academic career, the
share of female grade A staff among female academic staff varies between 28% and 2%,
with the highest proportions being recorded in Romania, France, Slovenia and Italy, the
lowest shares were reported in Lithuania, Cyprus, Germany, Spain and Portugal
(European Union, 2008). In the UK, in 2009/10, women were 44% of all academics and
non-academics. A higher proportion of staff in professorial roles was male (80.9%) and
female (19.1%). Men comprised 55.7% of academic staff in non-manager roles and
72.0% of academic staff in senior management roles (Blandford, et al., 2011). According
to Singh (2008), in 70% of the Common wealth’s 54 countries, men led all universities.
Davies (1996) observed that women enter adjunct roles but do not attain the most senior
organizational positions. Egunjobi (2009) asserted that within the Commonwealth
nations, the percentage of women employed as full time academic and non-academic staff
ranges from the highest of 50% in Jamaica to the least of 9.5% in Ghana, with a
Commonwealth average of 24%. The smallest percentages were found in Ghana 9.5%,
Nigeria 13.6%, Tanzania 11.0%, Zambia 10.9% and Zimbabwe 9.8% all in Africa.
Nigeria like other countries in Africa has in the last National Population Census (2006)
almost equal number of males and females that make up the total population. For
instance, females were 68.3 million, which is about 48.78 percent and males constituted
71.7 million, which is 51.22 percent of the total population of about 140 million. The
Nigeria’s National Gender Policy (NGP, 2007) reported that gender inequality within the
overall society and across all sectors reflects the wide disparities between women and
men.. A World Bank report on Nigerian universities reveals that women form a minority
of university teachers and administrators and female academic Staff stagnates at a level of
about 14 percent (Adesinaola, 2012). From the above presentation, issues‟ bordering on
gender in workplace career advancement needs attention as women has remained
disadvantaged in all areas of employment, career development, promotion or securing
higher position in employment. Career is often linked to ideas of progression up an
organizational hierarchy. While many people continue to pursue this kind of
organizational career, many others either succeed or face obstacles to advance. According
to Ali & Ahmed (2009), career includes sense of purpose and direction. It also includes
ideas of progression and development both at work and at a personal level. In this way,
career advancement was defined by focusing on the more visible aspects of an
individual’s career circumstances, such as profession, work role, salary, type of work,
career progression, and status or prestige associated with a position or level on a
hierarchy. It is being measured in terms of society’s evaluation of achievement with
reference to extrinsic measures such as salary, managerial level and number of
promotions (Malamed, 1996). As such, the need to promote gender equity in the
workplace becomes paramount. However, the subject of gender equality and inequality
has become a global concern at the heart of developed and developing countries. This is
clearly indicated by the United Nations Decade (1975-1985), which culminated in the
Nairobi Conference of 1985 and the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women held in
Beijing, China. In recognition of the persistent gender inequalities in the world, the
United Nations General Assembly adopted a Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on 18 December 1979. Member states,
among others, agreed to take all appropriate measures to eliminate inequality and
discrimination against women in all fields of endeavor to ensure the same rights, based
on equality of men and women. In achieving the set objectives of gender equality, the
Nigerian constitution (1963), reviewed (1999), upholds equal position and opportunities
for men and women. By this, women acquire the same training alongside the opposite sex
(male) thus acquiring the same experience that is the bedrock of leadership qualities.
Despite the fact that section 17 (1) (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria say: “That every citizen shall have the equality of right, obligations, and
opportunity before the law; section 42 of the same constitution also says that no Nigerian
citizen shall be discriminated against because of a particular sex, religion or ethnic
group”. The same constitution also guarantees the right to private and family life. Despite
the pronounced commitment of Nigeria and the international community to gender
equality, women are highly marginalized and are poorly represented in all spheres. While
women are subject to inequalities in law and in fact, the situation is both caused and
exacerbated by the existence of discrimination in the family, in the community and in the
workplace. It is perpetuated by the survival of stereotypes and of traditional, cultural and
religious practices and beliefs detrimental to women. Armstrong (2000) argues that men
and women face many challenges as they advance through careers. However, women
have reported greater barriers than men and greater difficulties in getting development
assignment and opportunities. Olojede (2004) lamented that Nigeria is a highly
patriarchal society, where men dominate all spheres of women’s lives. As in other male-
dominated societies, the social relations and activities of Nigerian women and men are
governed by patriarchal systems of socialization and cultural practices that favor the
interests of men above those of women. The access of women to employment and
leadership positions is constrained by gender roles of men and women as a result; women
in tertiary institutions in Nigeria face challenges of career advancement in the face of
hiring, promotion, access to leadership position, sexual harassment, marginalization,
exclusion and multitasking. The effect has been persistent low income of women, career
stagnation, lack of job mobility, limit women access to formal resource control and
benefit, limit optimal representation of women up the organizational hierarchy etc. Hence
they are considered in the world as the most vulnerable to socio-economic depression. All
these have culminated into huge gender gaps in literacy/education, work and access to
power. While a number of efforts have been underway to rectify gender inequality, much
still remains to be done across all educational sectors. This is because, the widespread
„unequal‟ power relations between men and women has continued to generate
discussions and has turned out to be a crucial scholarly debate in developmental and
academic discourses. It is against this background, this study examined gender
differentials in career advancement in Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
Gender differential in career advancement is one of the areas where women are grossly
disadvantaged and have to put up with an unfriendly environment. Kram & McCollon
(2003) asserted that in most organizations, women could sometimes find that they are the
organizational “other” and must manage their otherness in order to succeed. Managing
identity, discrimination and other people’s negativity can be an additional affective
workload, which deters women career progression. While the foregoing was generally
true of the gender situation within ABU, there were no actual studies that scientifically
documented it. For instance, the University did not routinely disaggregate data by sex.
Thus, neither the Registry nor other units could readily provide information on male:
female statistics as it related to staff performances, however, when available, the
information is either outdated, not updated and or incomplete. Since disaggregated data
was not routinely available, there was no question as to its being used to make decisions
and to monitor policy and practice outcomes. Indeed, the University did not have a clear
Gender Policy nor are gender issues reflected in the University policies such as
employment nor were there gender equality or gender equity initiatives funded through
the University in the past. According to Nelson &Burke (2001), gender inequality affect
women and women in tertiary institutions tend to experience chronic stressors, such as
domestic and professional making them rare in upper levels of academia and
administration. According to the study, women are disadvantaged in recruitment,
selection, and promotion efforts. Women in male-dominated departments as may be
found in many departments in PAAU, Anyigba, may receive fewer professional
developmental opportunities (e.g., mentoring and networking) and may face a negative
bias in evaluations by both students and colleagues that can impede their career
advancement. It is a truism that men find it difficult to accept female managers as equals.
This has led to other problems such as lack of training, lack of performance appraisal,
lower salaries and lack of promotion for women. Lack of women in senior positions
means that women are under-represented across all decision-making fora, including
committees, boards, recruitment panels and the executive. This means that the expertise
and skills of a significant part of the workforce are being under-utilized. Knowing well
that increasing numbers of women have gained access to higher institutions and the
college teaching profession worldwide, women continue to be underrepresented in work
place leadership positions. Women who have aspirations for top leadership positions still
encounter numerous internal (marginalization, distancing, stereotypes etc) and external
(family and reproductive responsibilities) challenges. This is because in society, there is a
belief that a good mother must give less effort and priority to work demands, she is
therefore seen as less committed worker. This biased belief creates barriers to women
advancement in the workplace. These barriers make women lack opportunities to present
their ideas, therefore reducing their influence over group decisions (Ridgeway, 2001). As
a result, women have been excluded from the networks and work experiences that would
provide them access to advancement opportunities. In the African context, traditional
beliefs and cultural attitudes regarding the role and status of women in society are still
prevalent and many women are part of this system finding it difficult to dislocate from
the cultural tradition lest they be ostracized. When women formally started entering the
workforce, little attention was given to the potential of women in management and
leadership. While the Employment Equity Act and social drives to increase their
participation in workforce support women, however, due to socio-cultural stereotypes,
women’s abilities to be leaders and managers are being undermined. Despite women’s
education and entry into the job market, the woman’s role is typically that of homemaker.
Women were expected to perform duties as wife and mother, in addition to fulfilling their
professional responsibilities. According to Sadie (2005), cultural attitudes are hostile to
women involvement in decision-making positions. However, some women are able to
transcend and rise to high ranks and positions of leadership but more often than not, it
means having to jungle cultural expectations with their leadership roles. What this means
is that, having a career poses challenges for women. Despite the perceived fairness of the
employment policies and its enforcement in Nigeria, restless efforts by feminists,
government at both local and international scene promulgating policies of gender equity
and equality, gender mainstreaming, quota system and affirmative actions to ensure fair
treatment of male and female in all sphere of endeavor, women have continued to face
irreversible discrimination in work place particularly in tertiary institutions as a result of
the inability of the employment policies to recognize the female reproductive traits, their
normative roles and professional commitment to achieve a balance. These policy failures
range from policies that seeks to eliminate gender discrimination in areas such as
recruitment, hiring, and promotion, policies to secure the health, safety, and well-being of
female workers and policies that enable work-life balance and support educational,
career, and vocational development of female workers. These policy failures have
affected women largely. While these laws and policies are not lacking, they have suffered
poor implementation. As a result, women continue to suffer relegation in advancing their
career in the tertiary institutions.
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The study attempted to answer the following questions:

 What are the characteristics of gender differentials in career advancement of Staff in

Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba?
 What are the factors influencing gender differentials in career advancement of Staff in
the study area?
 What are the effects of the factors influencing gender differentials in career
advancement on Staff in Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba?
 What are the possible strategies towards enhancing gender equity in career
advancement of Staff in Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba?
1.4 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The aim of the study is to analyses gender differentials in career advancement of Staff in
Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba. However, the specific objectives of the study
include

 To identify and characterize gender differentials in career advancement of Staff in

Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba.
 To ascertain the factors influencing gender differentials in career advancement of Staff
in the study area.
 To determine the effects of the factors influencing gender differentials in career
advancement on Staff in Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba.
 To proffer possible strategies towards enhancing gender equity in career advancement
of Staff in Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
It should be stated that within the economic and political sphere, women participation has
heightened and is gaining prominence. Educationally, women enrolment as both Students
and Staff of tertiary institutions is gaining momentum. In view of this fast spreading
notion of gender diversity in the composition of work force and its strategic value as a
competitive advantage for the organizations, this study becomes relevance because it
analyzed the gender differentials in career advancement of Staff in PAAU, Anyigba. The
research work is expected to serve as an analytical framework for Nigeria’s policy-
makers and policy implementation most especially government institutions such as the
judiciary, law makers and others Nigeria law enforcement agency in stemming the tide of
inequality in work endeavors. As such, the research will help decision makers and policy
analysts on policy formulations as well as contribute to legislative decision. It will
equally be useful to the management of higher institutions of learning in promoting
policies that will always ensure that everyone be allowed to participate and contribute on
equal basis to the development and growths of the higher institutions of learning in
Nigeria without being discriminated against on the basis of gender and above all, address
the gender base inequalities in educational management.
The study is also relevant in that, it further brought to fore the basis or justification of
women agitations for women rights, women empowerment and the need to eradicate all
forms of discrimination against women.
On the academic front, it contributed meaningfully to the growing literature on gender
studies, women empowerment and women’s rights. The researcher through this study
contributed to existing knowledge in the area.
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This study analyzed the gender differentials in career advancement of Staff in Prince
Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba. It examined the nature of gender differentials in
career advancement in tertiary institutions, the factors that influenced gender differentials
in career advancement, the effects and possible measures of enhancing gender equity in
tertiary institutions. However, the study could not cover the entire tertiary institutions in
Nigeria, but was limited to Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba.
1.7 HYPOTHESIS
H01: There is no significant difference between Factors influencing Career Advancement
and Gender Differentials
H02: There is no significant difference between Male and Female in their Choice of
Career
H11: There is significant difference between Factors influencing Career Advancement and
Gender Differentials
H12: There is significant difference between Male and Female in their Choice of Career