few among many: challenges confronting female journalists in Enugu state, Nigeria

Abstract

This study aimed to describe the challenges confronting female journalists in Enugu State, Nigeria. A total of 35 female journalists with the mean age of 28 years and years of practice that range from 5-15 years provided narrative account on their experiences through a semi-structured interview that lasted between one to one and half hours. The results showed that the challenges confronting female journalists include: discrimination from news sources and colleagues at work, sexual harassments, and family roles. The respondents also reported that discouragements from family members also constitute part of the challenges. The implication of these results on social identity theory is explored. Based on the result of this study, the researcher concludes that women-journalists are confronted with career related challenges not because of their performance on the job but because of the fact that they are women.

Keywords: challenges, journalism, women, and practice.