SOCIAL EXCLUSION OF WOMEN IN RURAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND ADMINISTRATION IN SOUTH-EAST, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study analyzed the social exclusion of women in rural community development and administration in South-east, Nigeria. The study specifically ascertained women’s economic status in the communities, examined the extent of women’s exclusion from administrative and development activities in the communities. Multi-stage sampling procedure was adopted in selecting 360 women respondents for the study. Primary data were collected through the use of structured questionnaire and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results revealed that a pooled grand mean of  = 2.97 affirmed that women had different economic status in the study area. The grand mean of  = 2.24 affirmed that the women had low level of inclusion in administrative and development activities. Result of multiple regression showed that the coefficients of ownership of properties (1%), control over own income (1%) and access to paid employment (1%), among others were statistically significant and negatively related to women’s exclusion in community administration in the study area. The study concluded that women had low inclusion in community administrative and development activities in rural communities in South-east Nigeria. The study therefore recommended that women should be included in Community administration and that executive positions in rural community administration should not be male dominated.