Community Cultural Practises and Gender Bias Affecting Women's Employment Opportunities

Onifade, Dare Seun

doi:10.67007/ijsds-2026-cff20319

This study investigates the influence of community cultural practises and gender bias on women's employment opportunities in Oyo State, Nigeria. The survey design adopted in the study was descriptive and the data were collected on 372 respondents including women in both formal and informal sectors, community leaders, and employers. The findings revealed that the socially internalised cultural beliefs imply the prioritisation of the positions of women housewives and carers through which the inaccessibility of education and learning and lack of formal employment become evident. Gender bias was extensively reported and presented in the form of occupational segregation, wage gaps, and a restricted promotion prospect. The results reveal that all these factors severely limit the access of women to the formal workforce, nearly placing them in harsh employment terms within the informal industry. The paper concludes that women are restricted to feature in the economic process despite their ability to contribute immensely to the progress of the economy through the interaction between cultural and gendered damages. It recommends the policy implementation in the respective areas of discrimination in the workplace, gender sensitive organisational reforms, publicity campaigns and specialised empowerment programmes to enhance the employability and ascendancy of women.

Community Cultural Practises and Gender Bias Affecting Women's Employment Opportunities

Abstract