Navigating Challenges, Embracing Opportunities: An Assessment of Women’s Leadership and Career Advancement in Africa, with a Focus on Nigeria

Abstract

A gendered ideology and a gendered hierarchy are prominent components that impact African women’s leadership and career advancement. By considering extant literature, empirical evidence, and expert insights on this topic, the aim of this chapter is to understand the dynamics surrounding women’s leadership and career advancement in Africa, specifically Nigeria. It delves into Nigeria’s history and culture, examining the impacts of gender roles, societal expectations, customs, and legal barriers hindering women’s leadership and career advancement. Providing insights into preconceptions of females based on their gender, this chapter’s assessment reveals that sociocultural practices, female gender bias and marginalisation, a lack of education for young girls, poor access to education, a lack of legal provisions encouraging women’s empowerment, geographical factors, and religious proscriptions determine or unfavourably impact women’s leadership and career advancement.

While this assessment focuses on women’s leadership and career advancement in Nigeria, thereby limiting its generalisability, it considers how to create sustainable leadership and career advancement opportunities for women, strategies for fostering a more inclusive and supportive environment for women, and recommendations for promoting gender equality, empowering women leaders, and inclusive career pathways.