Career progression of female librarians in public university libraries in Ghana

Abstract

The growing interest in gender issues and female employment has generated a number of studies and the library and information profession has not been excluded from this interest in promoting female equality in employment. This study investigates the career patterns of practising professional female librarians in six selected public university libraries in Ghana, in order to establish the enhancers and inhibitors they experience in their career progression. The study, conducted with a survey method, adopted the use of self-administered questionnaires for data collection. Quantitative data gathered from the 128 librarians were analysed to report on descriptive characteristics of respondents, while qualitative data, from open-ended questions, were analysed, using the narrative analysis technique, to present a profile of respondents and their career histories. The findings reveal females in the study were unable to meet requirements for promotion in their various public university libraries, which has resulted in very slow progress in their careers and even stagnated careers. The study concludes by recommending that there should be a career development support system for females, to help them overcome barriers to advancement in university libraries