International records / OpenAlex research

A qualitative exploration of how never-married, childless single career women cope with singlism in Nigeria

Purpose Using Goffman's stigma theory as a conceptual lens, this study explores how single, never-married and childless professional women cope with singlism from an African context. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative interviews were conducted with 32 female academics and medical doctors, and these interviews constitute the material data available at the time of conducting this research. The study was undertaken in Nigeria – a pro-marriage society, where those of marriageable ages experience workplace stigmatisation on the basis of their marital status. Findings The results of our themati…