Women In University Management: The Nigerian Experience

Abstract

This study examined women in university management in Nigeria. It was a descriptive research of the survey type. The population of the study comprised all the public universities in southwest Nigeria, out of which three were selected through the stratified random sampling technique. Three hundred respondents who were in management positions were purposively sampled for this study. A questionnaire tagged Women in University Management Questionnaire (WUMQ) was used to elicit information from the respondents. Data collected from the questionnaire were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, t-test analysis and Pearson products for research questions and hypotheses raised for the study. Results showed that the level of women participating in university management in Nigerian University was dismally low; most of the high management positions were occupied by men. Results of the study further revealed that many women in the university system were being deprived of high management positions because they do not have the same opportunities for advancement as their male counterparts and also, the undue strictness of many women jeopardizes their chances of attaining high management positions in Nigerian universities. Based on these findings, it was recommended that the parochial belief of some people ‘that women do not have what it takes to manage a university simply because they are women’ should be discarded. Women should also put a check on their undue strictness in the workplace and also, conducive working environments that will promote women’s advancement should be promoted in Nigerian Universities.