Assessment of Women’s Leadership Roles in Religious Organisations in Kaduna State

Religious institutions in Nigeria are significant sites of social norm formation, yet women's leadership within these institutions remains severely constrained by doctrinal interpretations and patriarchal organisational cultures. This study assesses women's leadership roles and the barriers they encounter within Christian and Islamic religious organisations in Kaduna State, focusing on Kaduna South and Kaduna North Local Government Areas. A descriptive qualitative-quantitative design was employed, with 200 female religious adherents and 40 male and female religious leaders forming the study sample. Data were collected via structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews and analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Findings reveal that women are largely confined to auxiliary, welfare, and women's fellowship roles in both Christian and Islamic organisations, with leadership in pastoral, administrative, and theological decision-making positions overwhelmingly male. Female leaders report experiencing dismissal of their contributions, reduced credibility relative to male counterparts, and exclusion from high-level organisational meetings. Women with higher education and professional experience demonstrate greater advocacy capacity for expanded leadership roles. Recommendations include gender sensitisation training for religious leaders, women's leadership development programmes within faith organisations, and interfaith dialogue on women's roles in religious governance. Keywords: women's leadership, religious organisations, Kaduna State, gender, patriarchy