Higher Educational Acquisition And Women Career Advancement In The Kwara State Civil Service

Abstract

The study examined the main influence of higher educational attainment on the achievement of career advancement for women in the Kwara State Civil Service of North Central, Nigeria.  Although women’s career advancement in formal sectors has improved over the last one decade Ajede, (2023) there is however, paucity of studies on how the acquisition of higher degrees by female civil servants have impacted on their professional advancement. The study was anchored on the Theory of bureaucracy, Labour Market Segmentation and Human Capital theory. The three theories explained the problem and nature of the bureaucratic structure and its inevitability in government administrative systems, how it leads to sexual division of labour, problem of labour market segmentation and the importance of investing in education and training to bridge gender gaps at work. Cross –sectional survey design was utilized while Simple random, purposive and stratified sampling techniques were used to select permanent staff of six ministries within the Kwara State civil service in Ilorin, North Central, in Nigeria consisting of 158 females. Eight in depth interview (IDIs) and case studies were conducted on female directors and permanent secretaries of the ministries. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and Chi-square test statistics at 0.05 level of significance while qualitative data were content analyzed.

Results showed that higher educational attainment remains a key factor for the career advancement of women to management positions in addition to performance and hard work while cultural stereotypes, glass-ceiling and domestics responsibilities remain challenges to women advancement in the civil service.