Abstract

Discrimination is one of the most controversial phenomena to challenge the human resources function in the workplace. It has been discussed in depth by sociologists, politicians, and lawyers and remains a topical issue. ABSTRACT Despite advances gender discrimination still persists and continues to be experienced by women in the contemporary workspace. In spite of research in various aspect of human resource management practices and career development in various sectors, there has not been a study on the influence of gender inequality practices on career development in Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and this form the general objective of this study which was carried out in petroleum industry in Nigeria. A descriptive survey research design was used with a target population of 9024 top level, middle level, and lower level management (supervisors) staff of the NNPC strategic business unit out of which 1235 employees were selected by a purposive sampling procedure. Structured questionnaire and personal interview were used to collect primary data. Pretesting of the research instrument was done to determine the reliability of the questionnaire by use of Cronbach alpha coefficient. Content validity of the questionnaire was used to ensure that the questionnaire answered the research question. The collected data were coded and entered into SPSS (V.22) to create a data sheet that was used for analysis. Data were analyzed using quantitative techniques. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the characteristics of collected data. Regression analysis was used to establish the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable. The study revealed that gender inequality practices had a significant negative influence on employees’ career development in NNPC. The study also noted that gender practices in NNPC are quite visibly discriminated against women particularly in the technical areas. Career progression is favorably tilted in favor of the men folks. Women are not given the opportunity to prove themselves. The study recommended that career plans and related competency requirements should be made clear and more transparent for women.