Women at work: achievements and drawbacks

Samangie wettimuny

Unemployment rates among young women with secondary or higher education have been considerably high over the years than among those with no schooling -(Census and Statistics 1946 -2009)

* Sri Lanka however has a noticeably higher rate of women entering higher education in all fields (57 per cent).
* A high rate of women enter non technical fields (70 per cent) from those who enter university in humanities and social sciences
* Female unemployment 13.5 per cent (of Female Labour Force)
* Male unemployment 6 per cent (of male labour force)
* Labour Force participation - male 65.5 per cent; female - 28.2% ( 2001)
* Female employment in 2007 - 27.1 per cent (ILO) * (Female participation is higher in agriculture sector)
* Overall Labour Force participation 51.7 per cent; male 69.3 per cent; female - 35.5 per cent (Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey, 2006 First Quarter)
* Women in decision making - 4 per cent

Dr. Subhangi Herath

In Sri Lanka the statistics on women’s employment show that many women who have gained higher education are either unemployed or underemployed. According to the studies done by the World Bank, one of the major reasons for this trend is that women have not developed skills required for the modern employment market. Moreover, it is unfortunate to note that even though Sri Lanka’s present employment market offers fantastic opportunities for youth, many women with higher education qualifications stand a poor chance of getting high-profile jobs since they lack necessary skills such as computer literacy, problem solving capacity, capability of adapting to the situation , language and communication skills etc.

According to Dr. Subhangi Herath, Senior lecturer in Sociology at the University of Colombo, “Most women have excelled in fields such as classical education which does not have much of a demand in today’s employment set up. However this does not mean that classical education is unimportant - the subjects like civics, political science etc help students improve their rational thinking capacities. But at the same time they should improve the skills required for high-profile jobs.”

Seventy per cent of foreign employees are women and almost all of them are employed in unskilled areas . “We export unskilled female labour which generates a huge amount of foreign currency to the country. However, not having enough skills make them vulnerable to exploitation. Most of the men who go abroad fall under skilled labour. They also possess negotiating power which is highly in their favour. Also the environment in which they work (engineering, technical) help most of them develop necessary skills automatically.”

Continuation of employment

Continuation of employment too is another issue. Dr. Herath noted. “Women are both unemployed and underemployed as well.” Sometimes women choose to be underemployed because it facilitates their work in the household and their situation do not allow them to cater to the demands of a high profile job. Unless she gets support from her spouse and extended family members she finds it extremely difficult to meet the requirements of both areas- job and family.

Another notable fact is that women who do extremely well at their First Degree very often choose not to pursue their higher education beyond that level. The reason is that after marriage they get burdened with household responsibilities. On the contrary, men pursue their higher education and engage in profession -related foreign travel as women are there at home to attend to house-hold chores and children’s requirements.

“It is true that women have to sacrifice the most important period of their lives to bear children, lactate them and look after them. All these activities are important. But it is not solely due to these factors that women stand far below in the field of employment compared to men.” She noted.

Dr. Herath emphasized the need of having an ‘understanding spouse’ if women are to achieve success in whatever field they are engaged in. “There are married women who do extremely well at both fronts. All such women are blessed with an ‘understanding husband’ who shares household work. ‘There is a woman behind every successful man.’ goes the popular saying. It could be the other way round as well. ‘Every successful married woman has an understanding spouse behind her!”

However the spouse alone cannot help her reach lofty heights in employment while maintaining household chores properly. She needs external support as well. “The problem in Sri Lanka is although there are enough opportunities for women to have higher education, we have failed to provide her enough support to reap the full benefits of it. This is where the whole thing collapses. If you analyze the relevant statistics you can see a huge mismatch between the level of female higher education and the level of unemployment (of those who received higher education). Though it has been overlooked over the years it is a serious issue”

“I fully agree that babies have to be lactated for a lengthy period of time and mother’s love is essential for the baby to grow up. Emotional support is important for the child. But there should be a proper system so that at least certain types of work can be shared.” she said.

In other countries paternity leave is granted for a longer period of time and that is highly beneficial for working mothers. If there is an important event at the office she can attend that leaving her husband at home. As Dolores Hayden states in her The Grand Domestic Revolution the role played by US new institutions to fulfill the domestic responsibilities of women is crucial in facilitating working mothers.

Dr. Herath who does not promote the concept of institutionalization of children or elders , however says that there should be homes to look after children, but they should not be kept there full time. “I really believe that there should be a home for them. But home should not be a place where they are kept in total isolation. One good option is that you can keep the baby there while you are at work and take him/her home with you on your return.”

However only a very few trustworthy day-care centres do exist in Sri Lanka. But in foreign countries there are properly-maintained day-care centres established by universities and other responsible institutions. This is an area which should be taken into consideration by relevant authorities.

Glass ceiling

Even the women who are employed in higher posts still face a glass ceiling. Women have been formally employed in security forces , but we see only a handful of higher level officers. Similarly only a few women are there at decision-making levels.

“At the same time we come across women who leave the work place due to psychological harassment. Also there have been unsuccessful attempts to employ women in non-traditional fields such as women taxi drivers and conductors. Those programmes had been largely unsuccessful because most of the time women had to quit these jobs as they were unable to bear the psychological harassment.

As Dr. Herath noted it is easy to make something popular if it starts at the higher level of society. But if it starts at the lower level it is not so easy to promote. “Now women are even employed as pilots. Similarly other fields too can be promoted.”

It seems that society in general hold a sympathetic attitude towards women. That is evident even at work. “Even at occasions when both the man and woman are employed in similar capacities ‘a lower performance’ is expected from the woman. Androcentricity is still the rule in almost all the fields. “Even the field of employment is no exception. Jobs, professional requirements and even the dress code are created based on this androcentric view point.”

It is sad to note that the steps that have been taken to give equal opportunities for women have often been misunderstood. “These attempts should not be taken in a negative sense and this by no way means that women and men are physically equal. The fact that she is a woman should not be forgotten.” Dr.Herath emphasized.

“Equal rights does not mean that man and woman are equal in physical terms. What will happen if the woman decides to give up her capacity to bear children?” As she noted it is not proper to deprive a woman of the opportunities on the basis of her child bearing capacity. At the same time it is equally wrong to consider her as physically equal to men (and ignore the fact that she is a woman.)

In the 1950’s and ‘60’s the women’s movement in the US became so radical that women gave up marrying the opposite sex, and gave up childbearing. They had to give them up in order to safeguard their positions at professional levels. Here women had to give up their ‘womanhood’ in order to achieve higher career levels. “ But this cannot be seen as women’s emancipation. She should not give up her motherhood in order to become a professional. Both ends should be achieved and she needs society’s help for this.” Dr.Herath said.

Society has to recognize the important role played by women. She sacrifices her health, time, and a very important period of her professional life for the purpose of child bearing and rearing. At the same time society has to recognize that she has other human talents apart from her biological capacity as a mother. If man can be accepted beyond his biological capacity, the same treatment should be given to woman as well.