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NIGERIAN WOMEN MANAGERS:
SHATTERING THE GLASS CEILING.
Olujide, J.O. (PhD)
Department of Business Administration
University of Ilorin
Abstract
In Nigeria today, there has been a dramatic increase in the
number of women who are pursing careers in management. Although
armed with appropriate education, training and experience, Nigerian
managerial and professional women appear not to have made much
progress in entering the ranks of senior management. This study is
therefore designed to provide empirical data and shed some light on the
characteristics and role of the Nigerian women in management.
Data were collected using structured interview based on a formtype format from 40 male and 40 female executives selected from both the
private and public sector organizations in Ilorin. Data obtained were
analyze using statistical summarization and cross tabulation.
Results showed that although there is little or no difference
between the traits, abilities, education and motivation of managerial and
professional men and women, few female executives get to senior and top
management positions. Secondly, the study found that Nigerian women
managers are young, highly educated witty and with a modern outlook
but their full potentials have not been fully realized because they are
seriously constrained by limited access to productive resources. Finally,
Nigerian female executives of today suffer from lack of power; this
appears to be the most serious problem facing Nigerian women today.
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Introduction
During the past one decade, the dramatic increase in the number
of women entering the labour market and pursing professional and
managerial careers in Nigeria has had a major impact on the workforce.
Although armed with appropriate education, training and experience,
Nigerian managerial and professional women appear not to have made
much progress in entering the ranks of senior management. They
encounter what Morrison (1987) termed a glass ceiling. Today, Nigerian
women executives constitute a reasonable component of managerial
workforce and their recruitment and development is increasingly see as a
bottom line issue related to corporate success.
To understand the small number of Nigerian female executives
and their underutilization particularly at the senior levels of organizations,
the three hypotheses by Burile & Mckeen, (1992) are relevant. The first
argues that woman are different from men and that this difference is
perceived as a deficiency in them when considered against the male
organization norm. Thus, women's attitudes, behaviors, traits and
socialization handicap them in the masculine corporate environment.
Research support for this position in terms of empirical data has been
limited. (Morrison & Von Glinow, 1990). Almost all of the evidence
shows little or no difference between the traits, abilities, education and
motivation of managerial and professional women and men (Powell,
1990).
The second hypothesis builds on the notion of bias and
discrimination by the majority towards the minority. It suggests that
managerial and professional women are held back by the bias and
stereotypes men have of women (Kanter, 1977). Such bias or
discrimination is either sanctioned by the labour market or rewarded by
organizations despite the demonstrated level of job performance of
women. As evidence of this, there seems to be a widespread agreement
that the good manager is seen as male or masculine (Schein, 1973, 1975).
The third hypothesis emphasizes structural and systems
discrimination in organizational policies and practices which affect the
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90
treatment of women and which limit their advancement. These policies
and practices include women's lack of opportunity and power in
organization, tokenism lack, of mentors and sponsors, and denial of
access to developmental opportunities such has challenging assignments.
To investigate these hypotheses about the status of managerial
women, much of the research effort has been limited to the industrialized
economies of Europe and America. Little research effort of this nature has
been carried out in the less developed economies of Africa and Asia. This
geographic limitation has therefore restricted the discovery of the kinds of
experiences that exist in the less developed countries that are culturally,
politically and economically different from the industrialized nations.
(Kanter 1977; Marshall 1984; Jagacinsk 1984; Nicholson & West 1988;
Gutek 1993; Burice & Mckeen 1992; Hirsch & Jackson 100-; Equal
Opportunities Commission 1991; U.S Department of Labour 1991;
Alimo-Metcalfe 1993; Jacobson & Jacgues 1990) etc.
In view of this limitation and the fact that governments, business
enterprises and management practitioner's pleas for data on how
companies, decision and policy makers might respond in less developed
countries remain unanswered. Thus, this study is designed to provide
empirical data and to shed some light on the characteristics and role of the
Nigerian women in management.
Objectives of the Study
Objectives of the study include:
(i)
An examination of people's belief about women manager in
Nigeria;
(ii)
To identify the characteristics of Nigerian women managers;
(iii)
Identify the reasons for the increasing number of females
executives; and
(iv)
Suggest ways by which women's role in management can be
enhanced.
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Methodology
This study is limited to Ilorin capital of Kwara State. It is a
preliminary/exploratory study on the expectations and career
development of women managers in the Nigeria environment. The choice
of Ilorin is not likely to affect the conclusions of the study because the
town exhibits, to a large extent, characteristics that are present in the
Nigerian working environment. Two sets of sample were constituted for
this study. The first sample consisted of 40 female executives working in
both private and public sector organizations in Ilorin. They represent the
majority of women occupying middle and top management positions in
banking institutions , parastatals, public companies, the civil service etc in
Ilorin in 2002. the second set of sample consisted of a corresponding 40
male executives selected in the same organizations as the female
managers.
A purposive sampling frame was used in this research work;
sampling units were selected because they can offer the contributions
sought and also those they are representative of the population of interest.
Data were obtained through structured interview based on a form
type questionnaire and it focused on the following issues.
 Males' attitudes towards women in management
 Gender discrimination in terms of appointment, function and
advancement
 Role conflicts between the traditional role of women as wives,
mothers and their new role as managers.
 Sex stereotyping: managerial function is seen as an exclusive
preserve of men which therefore requires masculine qualities that
women are not thought to possess.
 Education of women, suspicion and hostility towards them in club
in reserved for men.
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Results
For centuries women in Nigeria were considered inferior to men;
they were not considered intelligent enough to exercise a vote or take any
active part in public life. They were not even thought to be worth
educating. This stereotyping has long been documented by researchers,
for example, Maccoby (1966) Rosenkrantz et al (1968). Sex role
stereotyping has been found to impede the progress of women in
management through the creation of "occupational sex typing".
According to Merton, occupations can be "sex -typed" when a
large majority of those in them are of one sex and there is an associated
normative expectation that this is how it should be (Epstein, 1970, p.
152). What then is the attitude and people's belief about Nigerian women
managers.
Results of the analysis of data collected on the Nigerian women
executives show that they are very capable. Table 1 below the results of
analysis of opinion of male managers about Nigerian women in
management. 90% of our male respondents belief that Nigerian women
executives are capable managers and possess characteristics that are
similar to male executives; only 10% believe in sex-typing and therefore
consider Nigerian women executives incapable.
Table 1. Distribution of opinion about whether women are capable
managers
Opinion
Number of Respondents Percentage
Capable
36
90
Not capable
4
40
10
100
Source: filed survey
The results in table 1 above encouraged us to find out if Nigerian women
managers are under any pressure whatsoever from their male counterpart
of perform and act in any way similar to them. Results in table 2 below
show that only 7.5% of women executives experience
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some kind of pressure while the majority of them 29.5% did not
experience any pressure.
Table 2: Distribution of responses on pressure from male manager for
Women executives to live up to expectation
Pressure from Male Number of Respondents
Percentage
manager
3 yrs
3
7.5
No
37
92.5
40
100
This outcome demonstrates that Nigerian male manager have
come to recognize the role and worth of women executives. They have
realized that women manager are as competent as men as against the
traditional notion about women considered inferior and unintelligent.
The study also tried to find out whether gender stereotypes are
clearly not just perpetuated men alone, and whether women in most
organizations have positive/negative attitudes towards other women,
especially those in "unusually senior" positions. We therefore sought t the
opinion, perception and attitude of male managers to women executives
and those of female managers to themselves. The results are contained in
tables 3 and 4 below.
Table 3: Attitude of male managers towards female executives
Attitude
Number of Respondents Percentage
Supportive 1
12
30
Biased
20
50
In different
8
20
40
100
Source: field survey
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Table 4: Attitude of female managers towards themselves
Attitude
Number of Respondents Percentage
Supportive
32
80
Biased
In different
3
5
40
7.5
12.5
100
Source field survey
Results in table 3 show that 30% of male executives are supportive of
women's role in management, 50% are biased towards them while 20%
are indifferent. Results in table 4 show that just like men, attitude of
women executives towards themselves is supportive (80%); 7.5% are
biased towards themselves while 12.5% are indifferent.
The possible source of male managers bias towards their female
colleagues may lie in the sex stereotyping of management as an
occupation that requires masculine characteristic, which it was thought
women did not process. Attempts were made to probe into the causes of
the unfriendly disposition towards women executives and one male
manager said that he cannot imagine himself taking directives form
women managers when the holy books prescribe that women should
subordinate themselves to the authority of men.
He went further ..."I become nervous when a female manager has to
preside over affairs and push on decision to me..."There is also the belief
shared by male managers that women are not emotionally equipped for
managerial job because of their nature; women are considered fragile and
temperamental.
Furthermore, the attitude of men towards women managers can also be
examined from the traditional context. Traditionally, men are the heads of
their respective families; they make decisions and women merely
implement. But in this case, women managers reverse this role or share
the position of head with men. Men see this role reversal as an
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affront to their masculinity; they think it runs counter to tradition. This,
perhaps, helps to explain the unfriendly disposition towards women
managers.
From the foregoing therefore, women have traditionally been considered,
by the society to be inferior, unintelligent and therefore not worth
educating. What then are the characteristics of Nigerian female
executives? Do they conform to the traditionally held new about women?
Results of analysis of data collected on the demographic characteristics of
Nigerian female executives are contained in table 5,6,7 between the ages
of 21 -30; 25% are between the age bracket 31-40; 25% are between 4150 years while only 7.5% are above 50 years.
Table 5 Age distribution of respondents
Years
Number of Respondents Percentage
21-30
31-40
41-50
51 & above
21
10
6
3
40
52.5
25.0
15.0
7.5
100
Source field survey
With respect to the marital status of Nigerian women executives, our
results show that Nigerian women no longer see childbearing or their role
as wives or mothers as a barrier to their career development. In fact, about
62.1% of our respondents are married at one point time or the other.
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Table 6: Marital Status of Respondents
Marital Status
Number of Respondents Percentage
Single
15
27.5
Married
17
42.5
Divorced
5
12.5
Widowed
3
7.5
40
100
Source field survey
Table 7 below examined the distribution of our respondents by their
educational background. The result of our analysis concerning
educational, intellectual development and skill acquisition of Nigerian
women executive shows that 62.5% of these female managers have at
least university education, 15% have intermediate level of manpower
training obtainable in the Nigerian polytechnics while 17% have
professional qualification such as ICAN, CIBN, ACII etc.
Table 7: Educational Background of Respondents
Educational Attainment
Number of Respondents Percentage
Primary School
0
0
Secondary School
0
0
OND, HND
6
15
B. Sc. MBA, M.Sc. Ph.D
27
67.5
ICAN, CIBN, ACII
7
17.5
40
100
Source field survey
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Table 8 below shows the managerial positions occupied by the
Nigerian women executives. A preponderant proportion (about 72.5%)
occupy middle level managerial positions, 20% occupy senior
management position while 7.5% belong to top level management.
Table 8: Managerial Position in Organization
Level of Management Number of Respondents Percentage
Middle
Senior
Top
29
8
3
40
72.5
20
2.5
100
Source field survey
Discussion of Findings
The first finding of this study is that Nigerian women managers
are young, highly educated, witty and smart with a modern outlook. More
than half of female executives constituting the sample for this study are
below the age of 30 and in terms of educational and intellectual
development, no single Nigerian female executive possesses less than an
Ordinary National Diploma (OND) from the polytechnic. Over 60% have
university education and another 17% have professional qualifications
like ACA, CIBN, ACII etc.
Furthermore, more Nigerian female executives like their
American and European counterparts no longer see child bearing as a
social imperative or an obligation for that matter. This position is
supported by the fact about 60% of our respondent female managers are
unmarried; they are either single, widowed or divorced. The above
discussion points to the fact that the crop of Nigerian women managers
are a new breed, different from their forebears who stay at home
obediently. These ones are highly trained, are prepared to combine work
with marriage, independent and career oriented.
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For those of them that are married analysis of their responses to
our probing indicate that their role as managers has not conflicted in any
form with their role as mothers 63% of our respondents are in this
category. Some of them said "I have not experienced any problem of role
conflict because I have a husband who understands the mood of the
women..." Another one said"... The imperatives This is the only way by
which they can achieve economic autonomy thereby contributing to the
upkeep of the house and the rearing of the children.." For those of them
who have experienced some kind of role conflict, they attributed this to a
lack of understanding on the part of their husbands at the early stages of
their career and marriage.
Secondly, the attitude of the male executives to their female
counterparts stems from the traditional belief about women. Men have
been alleged not to like uppity women but hide under the guise of
brotherly consult. Button and More (1985) say that there is the need for
male managers to change this attitude in more positive ways towards
women in management. They say that women are at a disadvantage due
to their inability to play power games, the powerless are handicapped in
leadership. Butter and more went further to say that some of the factors
limiting the ability of women include:
(a)
The act that there is a limit to how far they can go in the
organization, and
(b)
A widespread belief, that women are individual movers that even
if they move, they cannot take anyone along with them
(Kanterl977).
The findings of this study do not support this position however
they support the viewpoint that few women executives reach the very top.
Only 7.5% of our respondent attains top-level managerial positions.
The existence of a male managerial model has been established by
a numbers of investigators - O' leary (1974) Antal & Izraeli (1993); and
Cooper (1987) confirm that it is the male and not the female sex role
stereotypes tat coincides with the managerial model which is one of
independence, task orientation, aggressiveness etc. this study did not
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confirm the male managerial role model but instead found that the
characteristics referred to by these researchers as cited above are not the
monopoly of male executives. The study found that they are common
both male and female executives in approximately the same proportion.
The study rather found that a competence cluster, which includes
attributes such as problem solving and decision making abilities are also
important qualities of Nigerian women executive.
Furthermore, we found that the warmth experience cluster is
rather completely ascribed to the female population. This, in addition to
the issues rained above, help in invalidating the male managerial model in
the Nigerian environment. Another interesting finding of this study is that
a far greater number of women candidates for executive positions exist
today than was true a decade ago. The reasons for this include:
1.
Greater opportunities arising from an unprecedented growth in the
services sector where women are dominant.
2.
Higher motivation-women do not have careers, they have jobs.
But with each passing year more members of the female workforce are
sharing the aspiration for careers, they have jobs. But with each passing
year more members of the female workforce are sharing the aspiration for
career development and success that have traditionally characterized male
managers.
3.
Greater educational attainment -historically, the more highly
educated a woman was, the more likely it is that she would work. Today,
a preponderant proportion of Nigerian women are educated and are
therefore more eager to avail themselves of the advantages of the labour
market rather than limit themselves to the home perpetually.
4.
Rising acceptance of working women-since everybody recognizes
and accepts the slogan "equality before the law" and added to this is the
heightened aspiration of women, both the female employees and their
organizations have reasons to break the characteristic polarization of the
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workplace into segregated sex occupations. Also this change is due to the
assumption of more powerful positions by young managers who are more
liberal and are now well disposed to accepting women in non traditional
roles.
Policy Recommendations and Conclusion
This study has found that one of the most serious problems facing
today's women executive is the lack of power. It is recommended that in
order to get more power, women should throw off the definition of
themselves as powerless. If women wish to make changes in the societies
they live in, they must seek to achieve power positions. However, this can
only be done if they enter the political arena in large numbers and
compete for power position since this community' is male dominated
despite the female numerical advantage as shown by the current 2003
voters registration.
The men certainly cannot be relied upon to initiate and carry
though the necessary and required changes. Women should understand
that power does not come automatically with the delegation of formal
authority but more from the more hidden political processes. Women
managers must therefore learn to value both social and organizational
politics.
In concluding, we want to underscore the fact that the role of
\v*omen as active participants in all sectors of the economy has received
increasing attention and recognition worldwide; this role is of crucial
importance to the future of our country Nigeria. However, in spite of such
recognition, the full potentials of women are not fully realized since they
are seriously constrained by limited access to productive resources.
Also, enormous barrier to the way of women stemmed from our
traditional and cultural belief about the role of women in society. These
beliefs confine women to the home front and recognize men as bread
winners. In the last few decades, women play a major social and
economic role in the Nigerian society as professionals. As the Nigerian
society evolves and its institutions modernize an increasing number of
Nigerian are becoming educated. These young men and women have by
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virtue of their education developed a broad horizon and an outlook to lie
that is different from that of their forebears. They thus have become
'iberated from the age-long traditional and cultural beliefs about work and
the role of women in the society. Women no longer regard the home as
their place, they all want to develop a career. They now value success,
want to feel successful and remain successful. They therefore have
entered into fields hitherto now regarded as exclusive monopoly and
preserve for men and included in these is management. Finally women
executives have demonstrated that they are as capable as their male
counterparts and are ready to play crucial roles in policy formulation and
strategic decision making as these affect the profitability and the health of
their organizations. It is therefore our hope that women executives will be
given every encouragement to succeed so that they can continue to
contribute to the growth of management practices.
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