She’s homely, beautiful and then, hardworking!

Abstract

Purpose There are assumptions in gender-related media research that increased female status would be accompanied by more and better representation of women. There are also expectations that an increase in the number of women working in the news media will increase the positive representation of women. The aim of this paper is to critique the representation of women leaders and managers in the Nigerian press to assess the extent to which these factors have influenced the representation of women in the West African country. Design/methodology/approach Using two methods, qualitative content analysis and interview, this chapter critiques the representation of women leaders and managers in Nigerian Guardian Life and Vanguard Allure (over a period of six months – the last half of 2014) to determine the way women in leadership and management are constructed by checking for frames on stereotypes, gender roles and trivialisation themes. The editors of the two publications are then interviewed to consider the philosophies behind the coverage patterns and assess their knowledge and awareness of the implications of the coverage patterns on the status of women in the sub-Saharan African country. Findings It was discovered that the Nigerian press are focusing on re-enforcing traditional gender roles and norms rather than challenging them, and women in leadership and management in the country do not apply sufficient agency in challenging the status quo. Research limitations/implications Even though information derived from this study cannot be said to represent the realities in all of Africa, it surely provides a good context within which issues about media representation of women in leadership and management in Africa can be better understood to assess how the cultures on the continent’s various countries affect the realities of the lives of women. Originality/value The bulk of feminist research is situated in the North. Not much feminist research is being done in the South, and there appears to be an inadequate engagement with the available few in the literature. This chapter bridges the gap by presenting much needed information about gender, media and organisation in Nigeria; a highly populous multi-ethnic and multi-cultural sub-Saharan African country. Even though information derived from this study cannot be said to represent the realities in all of Africa, it will surely provide a good context within which issues about media, gender and organisation in Africa can be better appreciated.