Gender Norms and Leadership Exclusion with a Focus on Women’s Pathways to Power in Southern Nigeria

Abstract

Women’s participation in leadership in Southern Nigeria remains severely constrained despite gains in education, economic engagement, and civic involvement. This study examines how social norms and patriarchal structures limit women’s access to leadership across family, community, religious, and workplace contexts in Ebonyi and Cross River States. Using qualitative data from 20 Key Informant Interviews, the study explores both men’s and women’s perceptions of female leadership, with particular attention to how women themselves reinforce restrictive gender norms. Findings reveal that leadership is widely coded as masculine, and women frequently act as gatekeepers, policing the ambitions of other women and discouraging leadership aspirations to maintain social conformity and uphold patriarchal hierarchies. The Women-Against-Women Theory of Harmful Cultural Practices (WAW-HCP) is applied as a supporting lens to interpret these intra-gender dynamics. The study highlights the relational and normative barriers that perpetuate women’s exclusion from leadership and underscores the need for interventions that address women’s role as enforcers of restrictive norms.