Gender Issues in the Recruitment and Selection of Academic Staff in a Nigerian University

Abstract

This paper examines gender issues in the recruitment and selection of academic staff in a Nigerian university. The recruitment and selection practices of the university are examined with a view to ascertaining whether such practices encourage male dominance. Primary data were obtained through the administration of questionnaires on 163 academic staff, using the stratified sampling technique. Ten staff occupying key administrative positions were purposively selected for interview. Results revealed that although men dominate academia, the recruitment and selection practices did not stress male ideology, rather merit was the yardstick for acceptance. The stressful nature of academia, discrimination, socio-cultural factors, female reproductive roles and lengthy period of training amongst others were disincentives for women‘s entry into academia. The study concluded that if the university is to be society‘s instrument for development, it should device means of ridding itself of the vestiges of gender imbalance in its composition of human resources.

Keywords: Gender, recruitment, selection, imbalance, university, Nigeria

Gender & Behaviour 10(2), December 2012