Influence of Technological Revolution and Company Culture on Women Employment in Southwestern Polytechnics, Nigeria

Abstract

The technological revolution has transformed the world of work, bringing about new opportunities and challenges for employees, particularly women. This study explored the influence of technological revolution and company culture on women employment in southwestern polytechnics Nigeria. The study employed descriptive research survey design, while purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select six polytechnics and one-thousand eight-hundred participants. A validated self-designed instrument with high reliability outcomes from Cronback Alpha was used to elicit information from the respondents. Descriptive statistics comprised simple percentage, mean and standard deviation were used for data analysis. The results revealed that the technological revolution has had a positive impact on women’s employment in southwestern Nigerian polytechnics, specifically through increased job opportunities (M = 3.35), the growing necessity of tech skills (M = 3.20), progress in closing the gender pay gap (M = 3.17), and the emergence of new job openings (M = 3.15). The results indicate that company culture in southwestern Nigerian polytechnics perpetuates discrimination against women, manifesting through discouraging challenges to discriminatory practices (M = 3.12), perpetuating gender stereotypes (M = 3.11), unequal treatment (M = 3.07), and a need for policy reforms to promote gender equality (M = 3.08). The study concluded that technological revolution has positively impacted women’s employment in southwestern Nigerian polytechnics, creating new opportunities and bridging the gender pay gap. However, company culture remains a significant barrier, perpetuating discrimination and unequal treatment of women, and necessitating policy reforms to promote gender equality. Therefore, educational institutions and organisations should invest in upskilling and reskilling programs that focus on developing technological skills for women, the Ministry of Education should develop and implement policies that promote gender equality, provide guidelines for addressing discrimination, and ensure accountability for non-compliance among others were suggested.