Socio-Cultural Challenges of Women Development: The Case of Female Academics in Igbo land, Nigeria

Abstract

The structures put in place to regulate the activities of men and women in Nigeria condition the programming of the mind of members of the society to the extent that the resulting subordination of women seems normal and acceptable, even to women themselves. With the changing policies and consequent emphasis on female education, the ground is shifting as many women have delved into the hitherto male domains and this includes Academics, but then, women still have to pass some socio-cultural huddles to be able to attain a meaningful level of growth in their chosen carrier. This study reported in this paper adopts a qualitative and quantitative survey research design to identify some socio-cultural challenges faced by female academic staff in selected higher institutions in Igbo land. The design adopted for the study is a descriptive survey. A sample of 228 female academics staff across these five higher institutions in Igbo land within the age range of 25 to 65 were the study subjects. The instruments used for data collection were a 30-item open ended, semi-structured questionnaire titled Appraisal of Socio-Cultural Challenges of Female Academic Staff Development and an interview and Focus Group Discussion. Data collected from the questionnaire were analyzed using frequency and percentage, while those collected from the interview and focus group discussion were qualitatively analyzed. The study concluded among others that female academics experience difficulty balancing academic work and family responsibilities, attending conferences outside their base ,staying back in the office after close of work. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n1s1p269