Here's what to do as a woman to access higher management positions!

New research shows that more women are seeking higher qualifications and additional skills via short term and part time courses in West Africa. Before now the most of the educational efforts had been on the side of the men who going by the most predominant African tradition, are expected to provide upkeep for their families.  In Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt all cities in Nigeria, for instance, many women are obtaining professional certifications in accountancy, marketing, customer care and management.  Research carried out by Optimum Performance media shows that several classes of short term courses open to both men and women have had a dominance of the female gender in recent times. The period in question is the last 10 years in West Africa's two biggest economies- Ghana and Nigeria, where women are beginning to play major roles in family upkeep. Even though the governments in these countries have a dismal contribution to women education and development, the ladies concerned have found ways to finance their own development processes. Research cuts across universities and training institutes and it reveals that the women folk have found off time via evenings, weekends and holidays to study and attend organized training activity that could lead to increased skill and eventual promotion in the place work. Optimum Performance observed activity in at various institutes in Accra and Lagos. Many of the classes in which certification training was taking place were predominantly occupied by women learners with men holding  lower attendances with as few as 20% of the whole class being men while the remaining 80% were women. Among the women folk as much a 40% of their numbers were married and had already given birth. In West Africa as well as many other countries of the world, there are a string of factors that inhibit the development of women managers, women have  to jump through a series of "hoops" before they can have access to higher positions in management. They must have fulfilled some or all of the following conditions according to Woodal and Winstanley: 

• Enter management at an early age
  
• Already have appropriate management qualifications
• have experience or rapidly gained experience in functions that are seen to be core to the organization
• Be continuously employed  over a long period
• Work long hours and conform to the organization's age related concept of career
• Be geographically mobile
• Conform to promotion criteria even in a male dominated environment .                                                                          Two major barriers stare women in the face: Entry problems: Many organizations hesitate to take on women in management positions because of what is termed to be matrimonial interruption. Such situations as pregnancy and dedication to family.  Progress problems also discourage organizations from taking on women in managerial positions: Women are viewed as being weaker and inferior in many environments thus, managements of major organizations hesitate to trust them with key positions. Thus we have a psychological concept known as the glass ceiling. In order to eliminate the situations whereby women are not considered for higher management positions, the following factors must be taken into consideration:
•  More women ought to be mentored and groomed for higher management positions \
• Childcare provisions ought to be reviewed
• Equal opportunity policies need to be enforced
• Attitudes towards women in leadership positions need to audited
• Women ought to be encouraged to take management training
• Women need to take on assertiveness training to be able to handle chauvinistic situations
• Selection, promotional and approval processes must be reviewed 

In the final analysis, if women are to be moved out of the ghetto and into the front line of management, there has to be a conscious effort for both female and male recruiters to zero their minds when considering gender and focus on the skills,attitudes, abilities and experiences of the people they are selecting for positions.