Challenges Faced by Female Managers in the Banking Sector
CHALLENGES FACED BY FEMALE MANAGERS IN THE BANKING SECTOR OF NIGERIA
A Case Study of Diamond Bank Lagos
INTRODUCTION
For a long time, women had to contend with a plethora of challenges in the execution of their duties. The patriarchal nature of the majority societies militates against women to ascend organizational hierarchy. Most organizations are systematically organized for male supremacy; hence, they are not gender neutral. Women find themselves playing second fiddle to men because the core values of patriarchy are male domination and control of the perceived weak groups, which are women.
Female subjugation and marginalization has been reinforced and perpetuated through the process of gender socialization resulting in women domestication. Premised on androcentricism, women’s domestic role is perceived as antithetical to public sphere activities informed by the process of socialization which in turn “elbowed” women out of the educational, political, and macro-economic spheres. Women’s participation in the mainstream economy was confined largely to agricultural production as laborers. They were thus excluded from the full entitlements that patriarchy dutifully extended and delivered to men. They also remained furthest from citizenry, which is equally critical to one’s ability to access and exercise citizenship rights. This translates women into a property-less, right-less and privatized status (McFadden, 1995). While the presence of women in management ushered in some feelings of hope and recognition of women’s capabilities and acceptance of women leadership in society, collective assumptions and male customs, such as aggressiveness, domination, discrimination, and selfishness, which seem to inform and dictate practice in management, implied that ‘women operate in men’s shoes’ since the aforesaid customs and practices are not part of this practice of incorporating women in management with patriarchal core values seems to have made life difficult for
A Case Study of Diamond Bank Lagos
INTRODUCTION
For a long time, women had to contend with a plethora of challenges in the execution of their duties. The patriarchal nature of the majority societies militates against women to ascend organizational hierarchy. Most organizations are systematically organized for male supremacy; hence, they are not gender neutral. Women find themselves playing second fiddle to men because the core values of patriarchy are male domination and control of the perceived weak groups, which are women.
Female subjugation and marginalization has been reinforced and perpetuated through the process of gender socialization resulting in women domestication. Premised on androcentricism, women’s domestic role is perceived as antithetical to public sphere activities informed by the process of socialization which in turn “elbowed” women out of the educational, political, and macro-economic spheres. Women’s participation in the mainstream economy was confined largely to agricultural production as laborers. They were thus excluded from the full entitlements that patriarchy dutifully extended and delivered to men. They also remained furthest from citizenry, which is equally critical to one’s ability to access and exercise citizenship rights. This translates women into a property-less, right-less and privatized status (McFadden, 1995). While the presence of women in management ushered in some feelings of hope and recognition of women’s capabilities and acceptance of women leadership in society, collective assumptions and male customs, such as aggressiveness, domination, discrimination, and selfishness, which seem to inform and dictate practice in management, implied that ‘women operate in men’s shoes’ since the aforesaid customs and practices are not part of this practice of incorporating women in management with patriarchal core values seems to have made life difficult for
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