The Single Female Worker: An Intersectional Study of Professional Women in Nigeria

Abstract

The work-life literature on single employees although expansive, typically does not distinguish women from men. This distinction is important in light of gender status beliefs that attribute lower competence to women than men. In this study, we adopt an intersectional lens that combines gender and marital status to examine how single women experience the professional workplace. To this end, we interview 20 single professional women employed full-time in Nigeria. Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy and a patriarchal society that relegates single women to the bottom of the social hierarchy (with progressively higher levels being occupied by married women, then men). Our study uncovers three fo..