Perception Related to Labour Participation, Power Relations, and Social Expectations in Nigeria

Women and girls especially face gendered disadvantages in health, political representation, and the labour participation. As a result, this study explored the perception of men and women on gender inequality in Nigeria as it relates to labour participation, power between men and women, and social expectations. This study was descriptive and cross-sectional in design and used an online-based structured survey to elicit data from 238 men and women. Perception related to labour participation, power relations, and social expectations were determined on 8-item, 6-item, and 10-item perception scales, respectively. The majority (78.2%) were females, and the average age was 25.0±7.2 years. More men had unfavourable perceptions across the assessed perception categories compared to females. More than half (57.6%) of the respondents had unfavourable perceptions related to labour participation of women and men. Furthermore, one-third (31.1%) of respondents had unfavourable perception on power relations that exist between men and women. The majority (86.6%) of the respondents had favourable perception of social expectations of men and women. Sex was significantly associated with all perception categories (P ≤ 0.05). The high proportion of unfavourable perceptions related to women’s labour participation and power relations could be addressed through comprehensive social norms interventions that will lead to positive perception change.