Gender- Behind-The-Camera: Women’s Career Experiences in Television Stations in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the career experiences of women in behind the camera positions in television stations in Lagos State, Nigeria. Anchored on the Hegemony and Patriarchy theories, the study adopted survey, focus group discussion (FGD) and in-depth interview methods for data gathering. Samples for the survey, FGD and in-depth interview comprises 268 respondents, 6 participants each selected from the 6 sampled television stations and 2 participants each selected from the 6 sampled television stations in Lagos state respectively. The questionnaire, structured FGD guide and structured interview guide were used to generate the data used to answer the five research questions guiding the study. Results show that the respondents were more dominated in roles such as producer, reporter and editor, and women also dominate management roles in government owned television stations compared to the private owned television stations. Additionally respondents are perceived to be emotional (38.0%), sensitive (25.4%) and weak (23.9%). Results also shows that respondents are not promoted or appointed to managerial position in television stations based on gender, rather it is based on competence and efficiency. Results also shows that the major challenges facing respondents on their job are; late time closing hours, demands of home and work front, and the job been considered as too tedious/risky. The findings also revealed that these challenges will hinder respondents from attaining their career goals however the major prospect respondents have on the job is to get to the peak of their careers. Consequently, findings support tenets of Hegemony and Patriarchy theories. Keyword: Career experiences; behind the camera positions; television stations, challenges and prospects.