ATTITUDE OF FEMALE MASS COMMUNICATION STUDENTS TOWARDS JOURNALISM AS A CAREER
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CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION
It has been observer that female student journalist have negative attitudes towards taking up journalism as a career on graduation. This negative attitude is highly reflected in the number of woman engaged in communication work in various media of communication all over the country offering courses leading to the award of various degrees and certificates, including national and high national diplomas, bachelors degrees, and masters degree. The increase of female journalist in this school is not reflected in the number practicing journalism.
In June, 1983 alone, about 22 female journalist graduated from oko and Auchi polytechnics while the while the institute of management and technology (IMT) enugu turned out not less than 18 female journalist the same year, the Ozoro polytechnic also had about 10 female journalist the same year.
The picture in other mass communication schools virtually the same, for instance in 1983, the university of Nigeria Nsukka graduated not less than 8 female journalist, the university of Ibadan which offers past graduates studies mass communication produced 3 female journalist in the year 1983 too.
This data about expanding number of female journalist graduate s stand in stark contrast to what this researcher has observed in media institution as far of female participation in mass communication work is concerned. in recent years media houses across the country have been facing an increasing shortage of trained young women in various communication activities.
The “daily star” newspaper, for instance has only one female trained journalist while the editorial department alone has about 18 males. One question then that could arise from this imbalance is, does this suggest a kind of discrimination against the employment of women, as Alice Fins, who was also worried about this situation observed: according to he, “if there were more women seeking for jobs in the media mass communication and also more men seeking for work in the field with the same ability and background the men got the job. She notes that it is only when a woman is better qualified or worked harder would she be awarded the job, she further said that very often, the woman’s job was at a lower rate of pay than would receive and involved doing more professional tasks.
The Anambra television authority has a good number of trained male journalists, working in the different areas, but has only about four trained female journalist, the Nigerian television authority enugu (NTA channel 8) has only about 2 trained female journalist. The other media institutions not mentioned are not likely to be a sharp contrast from those mentioned.
IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
This observation about female journalist not ending in taking up journalism as a career has for long agitated the mind of this researcher. This researcher has therefore investigated the reasons for such negative attitude towards journalism instead of depending on mere assumption, in the words of Ikechukwu Nwosu, a senior lecture in the department of mass communication IMT Enugu.
“there is no need to develop opinion and facts from available information through the employment of social science research methods rather than depending on assumption”
Journalism educators also may be occasionally wondering, about the female journalist graduates, they provide for professional journalism. Do they really go into the profession? If they do, how do they find their jobs? If they don’t, what militates against their going into the professions?
Another journalism educator, Chinyere Okunna has wondered where female graduate of mass communication schools are since not many of them take up the teaching of mass communication as a carrier, in an article titled “impact of women on the media, delivered at a seminar organized in honor of Miss Diana Johnson (broadcaster) by the Nigerian union of journalist (NUJ), Anambra state council, she notes “women in Nigeria are apparently not contributing much to the achievements of journalism schools, either at the university level or at the polytechnic level; she noted that mast schools offering mass communication have only one or two women involved in teaching mass communication, for instant at both the university of Nigeria Nsukka and university of lagos where mass communication is studied at both undergraduate and post graduates levels, only one female lecturer is involved in teaching in a polytechnic, like IMT, e3nugu, there is one female journalist lecturer in mass communication department named Mrs. Nkem – Fab Ukozor.
The article assumes that many women journalist prefer working in the field to teaching in class rooms because the glamour of the media particularly the electronics seems irritable to many of them.