Glass ceiling in Nigeria’s banking sector: perspectives of senior male employees

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine senior male employees’ perspectives on the glass ceiling in the Nigerian banking sector.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected qualitatively using interviews with 43 senior male employees in four Nigerian banks.

Findings

This study finds that senior male employees acknowledge the challenges their female counterparts face concerning promotion. Senior male employees’ views on the value of gender-diverse leadership underscore the illusion of a “level playing field” because of a gender-neutral performance policy and a family–friendly policy for women. Nonetheless, the study notes a divergence in senior male employees’ perspectives about the professional progression of female employees (based majorly on age and ethnicity). The study concludes that the organisational culture and leadership that underpin poor female career progression are embedded in and driven by the culture in the empirical context.

Originality/value

The examination of senior male employees’ perspectives on the glass ceiling in the Nigerian banking sector offers significant theoretical and practical contributions to the extant literature on gendered occupational segregation by providing unique insights into how patriarchal societal and occupational culture, as well as (limited) family–friendly policies for women, influence the configuration of men’s views of gendered occupational segregation in the Nigerian banking sector.