How Do Women in Niger Crush the Glass Ceiling?

Abstract

Patriarchal norms across West Africa curtail women’s education and employment opportunities, with Niger standing as an extreme example. However, a small minority of Nigerien women succeed in accessing education and the formal economy. Based on in-depth research conducted between 2019 and 2024, this brief identifies three adaptive strategies – securing male support, balancing professional and domestic responsibilities, and achieving academic excellence – that enable women to navigate these structural barriers. It also highlights the limits of individual adaptation and suggest policy recommendations to support more inclusive access to education and formal employment.

Introduction

Across West Africa, entrenched patriarchal structures and socio-cultural norms continue to systematically exclude and marginalise women from education, economic participation, and decision-making. In Niger, these dynamics are particularly pronounced. The country records some of the world’s lowest levels of girls’ school enrolment, retention, and completion, alongside the highest rates of child marriage globally. These intersecting demographic and socio-cultural factors severely restrict women’s access to education and the formal labour market. Yet, in spite of such a structurally unfavourable context, a minority of Nigerien women defy the odds and succeed in accessing education and entering the formal workplace. This policy brief asks how?

This policy brief analyses women’s lived experiences and identifies the strategies they use to navigate male-dominated environments and gain access to the formal economy. It draws on an academic article by the authors on the same topic. Based on in-depth research conducted between 2019 and 2024 on gender relations in Niger, including life story interviews and focus groups with Nigerien women, it identifies three adaptive strategies: acquiring support from male relatives, balancing professional and personal lives, and achieving academic excellence. These strategies allow women to navigate and manage gendered structural barriers, yet paradoxically, they often do so without directly confronting the patriarchal structures, gendered norms and stereotypes that underpin their exclusion. This brief reflects on the implications of these strategies and puts forward policy recommendations for national and external actors interested in promoting and expanding girls’ and women’s access to education and formal employment in Niger, and beyond.

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