This thesis examines gender and ethnic inequalities in the Nigerian civil service through the\ud
lived experience of Ijaw women and the strategies they adopt to combat perceived\ud
discrimination. A theoretical framework of structure, culture, agency, intersectionality, and\ud
social identity theory underpinned this research. Hermeneutic phenomenological\ud
methodology was adopted within which 40 in-depth semi-structures interviews were\ud
conducted. Findings indicate that for most respondents, ethnicity is a politicised identity\ud
while gender identity tends to be passive. Other emerging identities were revealed such as\ud
language, age and indigeneship (having historical ties to one’s state of residence). Civil\ud
service organisations were found to legitimise inequality regimes with respect to gender and\ud
ethnicity. These inequality regimes are definitive of Ijaw women’s workplace lived\ud
experience. While some participants identified as traditionalists, others adopted strategies\ud
such as ‘Awaiting Divine Intervention’, Masking, Exiting the organisation, Assimilating,\ud
Performing, Negotiating and Reforming the system, to combat perceived discrimination in\ud
their organisation