Gender Mainstreaming in Public Administration Recruitment in Enugu State Civil Service

Gender mainstreaming in public service recruitment has gained increasing attention as a strategy for addressing systemic inequities and enhancing the representativeness of civil service institutions. This study examines the extent to which gender mainstreaming principles have been integrated into recruitment processes within the Enugu State Civil Service, assessing the implications for workforce diversity and administrative effectiveness. The study is grounded in the Representative Bureaucracy Theory, which holds that a public workforce reflective of societal diversity enhances service delivery responsiveness and legitimacy. A survey research design was employed. The target population comprised Enugu State Civil Service Commission officials, human resource managers across selected ministries, and civil servants, from which 250 respondents were drawn using stratified random sampling. Structured questionnaires served as the data collection instrument, and responses were analysed using chi-square tests and descriptive statistics. Findings indicate that while gender-sensitive recruitment guidelines exist in policy documents, implementation is uneven across ministries, with senior positions remaining disproportionately male-dominated. Cultural biases and weak enforcement of affirmative action provisions were cited as key barriers. The study concludes that Enugu State has made incremental progress in gender mainstreaming but requires more deliberate institutional mechanisms to achieve equitable representation. It is recommended that the Civil Service Commission adopt binding gender parity targets for leadership positions and integrate gender audits into its annual recruitment review processes.

Keywords: Gender Mainstreaming, Recruitment, Civil Service, Representative Bureaucracy, Workforce Diversity