Institutionalised patriarchy and work-life balance (WLB) challenges for female medical doctors: the case of Nigeria

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine how institutionalised patriarchy triggers work-life-balance (WLB) challenges for Nigerian female medical doctors. It is focused on Nigeria to understand how its unique institutional context poses WLB challenges.Design/methodology/approachRelying on exploratory qualitative approach based on 41 semi-structured interviews with female medical doctors in Nigeria and informed by institutional theory (IT), this study explores how patriarchal institutions create, maintain and transmit male dominance, exploitation and inequality in the family, workplace and larger society.FindingsThe findings of this study show that patriarchy exists not only in family but also in all structures and institutions that allow for control of women by men and further inequality and exploitation of women. It was also found that in contrast to research in the west, WLB challenges stemming from Nigeria's patriarchal institutions are significantly different because of the peculiar institutional frameworks framing them. Also, WLB challenges for female physicians while common to female doctors in western countries are more intense in developing countries, given their unique sociocultural and institutional realities.Research limitations/implicationsThe implications of this study are that WLB challenges of female doctors are not fundamentally driven by individual choices but by broader contextual issues, which create and sustain such challenges. Further studies can be undertaken in private hospitals including quantitative approaches.Originality/valueThis research thus contributes to both institutional theory and WLB discourse from the perspective of developing countries.