THE POLITICS OF SILENCE: A QUALITATIVE STUDY ON HOW INSTITUTIONALISED PATRIARCHY AND HIGH-POWER DISTANCE CULTURE SUPPRESS FEMALE EMPLOYEE VOICE IN NIGERIAN WORKPLACES

Abstract

This study examines how institutionalised patriarchy and high-power distance culture suppress female employee voice in Nigerian workplaces. The study explores the role of religious norms in reinforcing silence among female employees, thereby addressing a significant gap in existing literature, which has largely overlooked the intersection of religion and gender in shaping employee voice-out behaviour in non-Western contexts. The study is anchored in social dominance theory, which provides a robust framework for understanding how masculine hegemony perpetuates occupational segregation and silences women's contributions. A qualitative
phenomenological design was employed, utilising primary data collected through 52 semi-structured interviews and 200 hours of non-participant observation across banking, engineering, information technology, marketing, customer service, and academic sectors. The findings reveal that contextualised religious teachings reinforce patriarchal norms and legitimise silence as a virtuous feminine trait, embedding voice suppression within moral and spiritual frameworks. The study concludes that cultural and religious factors operate as powerful, intertwined forces that systematically marginalise women's voices in Nigerian workplaces. It recommends that organisations implement culturally sensitive diversity policies that explicitly address patriarchal norms and partner with religious leaders to reinterpret teachings in ways that affirm women's right to speak and participate fully in professional settings.