GENDER AND MANAGEMENT POSITIONS IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES IN SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA

In most patriarchal societies, like Nigeria, women gender continues to face numerous barriers in every sphere of life. The labour market, in the manufacturing industry, is a site of complex and interrelated inequalities. Thus', job segregation and
occupational segregation, both horizontally and vertically, remain major problems. These have largely affected the terms on which women participated in paid employment, their choice of jobs and their opportunities for advancement. They are largely represented in subordinate work roles. Only a small proportion succeeds in breaking through the glass ceiling. This study, therefore, assesses women/men in management positions in terms of their perception of these jobs, the extent to which both genders are exposed to the same technology/opportw1ity, and their level of acceptance by their subordinates.
Four companies with fairly large female labour force were surveyed in Lagos and Oyo states. Interviews were conducted among a selected sample of 85 women / men managers at the entry, middle and top management levels. Sixty respondents were
females, while twenty-five were males. Focus group discussions were held among 480 subordinates working under these women/men managers. Ancillary instruments include the case study approach, content analysis, and a review of company records. The data gathered was processed mainly through qualitative method along with some frequencies and cross tabulation.