Effects of domestic responsibilities on career growth among women journalists in Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate effects of domestic responsibilities career growth of women journalists in Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to examine extent in which domestic duties affect women journalists’ thoughts on their career progression and explore how women journalists cope with inequalities in the media organizations in Kenya. The study used feminist theories to explain the study under study. Online questionnaire was administered to 358 journalists whose details were extracted from Media Council of Kenya Accreditation database. Descriptive research design was adopted by this study. Quantitative and qualitative approaches were used to analyze data from questionnaire and in-depth interview on women journalists. The study found that the working environment for women journalists presents unique issues attributed to domestic duties. The study found that 79% of the study participants strongly believed that newsrooms working environment favors male journalists as they can easily report to work after childbirth, balance family and work while climbing the corporate ladder. In conclusion, women journalists are likely to perform dismally due to domestic responsibilities. There is need for future studies to undertake a qualitative study to examine individual women journalists with young children to see how they are coping with them situation and how this affects their career progression. Women journalists requires space to progress in their career and to operate in an environment that is free from obstacles that hinders them from moving upwards in their organizations. This study is important because it investigates the domestic factors and their effects on women journalists’’ progression in Kenyan media industry.