Gender Forum

No glass ceiling for Dushyanthi!

Ishara JAYAWARDANE

Dushyanthi is an only child and old girl of Ladies College Colombo. She left for England in 1976, where she did her O/Levels and A/Levels at Mill Hill College. She did Accountancy and studied music privately. “My mother was a music teacher and taught me the piano. She took me for cello lessons to Ms Averil Bartholomeusz who was the only Cello teacher at the time in this country. I learnt with aunty Averil for about six years. Then I went to England and studied with Alexander Bailey. I also had lessons with the great Sri Lankan cellist Rohan De Saram, “ said Dushyanthi.

When asked if she encountered any difficulties Dushyanthi replied that she had been in the Orchestra since she was very young, even before she had left for England. “Many people in the Orchestra are those I grew up with and made music with for years, so it hasn’t been difficult for me. My colleagues are very supportive of me and give me a lot of confidence.”

Asked whether there is a glass ceiling in this profession for women, Dushyanthi said that in this day and age, there are no gender constraints and limitations as to how far a woman may rise. “If there is a limit, it is not due to gender issues but the fact that in this country, Western Classical Music is not promoted and funded in the same way as Eastern Music. Finding sponsorship of concerts is very difficult. It is not easy to obtain good instruments either. However I would not say that there is a barrier for women, I have not encountered any barriers at all,” explained Dushyanthi.

Dushyanthi however conceded that conducting is generally done by males, though now you do find many good female conductors abroad. “ The Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka has an excellent female Japanese conductor who comes every year.”

On the subject of challenges, Dushyanthi spoke of managing her home and profession. Asked as to how she strikes a balance between being a mother, musician and conductor, Dushyanthi replied ; “When the kids were younger and in school it was more difficult to strike that balance, but I did not stop my music for even a month.”

Asked if a woman who is a mother and musician would find it difficult in this field with the added challenges, Dushyanthi accepted the fact that, yes, there are added challenges because when you are in the music field, you have to practise if you want to perform to an audience. You have to overcome nervousness and the only way to do that is by playing a lot at home. You also have to be very familiar with the work in order to get on stage and be able to communicate with the audience.

“When you have young kids you don’t have that much time to practice at home. So there was a bit of pressure for me, but I think that I have overcome my challenges.”

Dushyanthi’s upcoming concert is on the 19th of May at the Ladies College Hall. It is called “Romantic Masterworks.” It is a concert which will feature Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” symphony, Dvorak’s serenade for strings and Franz von Suppe’s “Poet and Peasant” overture.

“There is a lot of potential in the field of music in Sri Lanka. But it is just that in schools, academic competition is so great. Children have tuition classes all the time so there is not enough time for kids to play music.

There are those however, who strike that balance. As a teacher I look for commitment in a student. If they have commitment to learning the instrument they can achieve anything. If you have the talent it is a lot easier but if you have the perseverance you can do it,” stated Dushyanthi.

When asked about her performing with the Bombay chamber Orchestra she said, “I was invited to be a soloist with the Bombay Chamber Orchestra. Some time after I went and played as a soloist they invited me to be their principal cellist. I go there at least five times a year.”

Dushyanthi’s advice to any aspiring musician is that you really have to love what you are doing. “Music requires a lot of time and commitment. It is something important in everyone’s life. It moulds you as a child. If you have music in your system it helps you grow in a certain way. It is important for kids to have music included as part of their education. It mellows things down and helps them strike a balance.

Migration of females for employment: some issues

DR. Dileni GUNEWARDENA

Much of what is written in Sri Lanka about female migration focuses on the social cost of migration and comes out very strongly against it. While there are many case studies and micro-studies of female migrants and the effect of migration on their families-that examine both positive and negative effects-the jury still seems to be out on whether it is a good or bad thing.

This column has no definitive answer either. What it does offer, however, is a look at the economics of migration from the perspective of the migrant. As an economist, I have found that whenever I speak positively about female migration, the immediate assumption is that I like it because of the foreign exchange it brings into the country. (Housemaid remittances are the largest foreign exchange earner, along with the garment export industry and tea exports-all industries that make their money out of the labour of women).

The reason I like female migration is definitely rooted in economics. But it has nothing to do with foreign exchange for the country or filling the coffers of the Treasury. Rather, it has everything to do with my belief that women migrate because it is often the only avenue open to them for improving the economic well-being of the migrating women and their families.

Who migrates and why?

According to the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), females made up 52 percent of migrating workforce in 2009 (down from 75 per cent in 1997) and almost 90 percent of them migrate for employment in domestic service. Unfortunately, the data gathered by the SLBFE does not indicate much about the demographics of females who migrate for employment, other than their age. The breakdown by age of those who migrate for domestic employment suggests about 70% of female migrants are fairly evenly distributed between the ages of 25 and 44, with the rest evenly distributed below and above this age group. But little is known as to the breakdown by marital status-how many are single and how many married? If married, how many have children? How many have children but are single parents or sole breadwinners for their children? Micro studies of female migration often indicate being able to spend on children’s education as one of the major motives for migration, suggesting that many of the women who migrate have children, and bear much of the responsibility for their economic future. Despite the common perception that Sri Lanka has an educated labour force, only 30 per cent of the male labour force and less than 40 per cent of female labour force had O/L education or higher by the end of the last decade. One in five men and women in the labour force have less than five years of schooling, while the vast majority (40 per cent of women and 50 per cent of men) have 5-10 years of schooling.

Though the SLBFE does not have statistics available for migration by level of education, figures by “manpower” level indicate that while roughly 40 per cent of male migration is for unskilled work, 88-93 per cent of female migration is for unskilled work or employment as housemaids.

While this is partly a reflection of the nature of the demand for male and female labour, the fact that disproportionately more females migrate for unskilled work also reflects the difficulty that unskilled female labour faces in finding remunerative work within the country. This assertion is consistent with research findings that show that wage gaps between similar men and women are larger at the bottom of the wage distribution (i.e. sticky floors, that we talked about in last month’s column).

A serious option?

Had these women not opted to migrate for employment, then it is clear that they would have faced low wages for similar work in Sri Lanka. What about self-employment? Rigorous and well-accepted research on micro-enterprises in Sri Lanka has shown that the returns to capital for women are negligible, unless they break out of stereotypical “female” entrepreneurial activity like food production. So, it looks like “unskilled” women in Sri Lanka are caught in both a low-wage and low-income trap. Who can blame them for taking the opportunity to escape this trap by migrating for employment?

Social costs

What of the social cost-both to the women who migrate, who face hardship and harsh working conditions, and to the families left behind? Firstly, the problem with “costing” migration is that studies are not able to compare the social cost of migration to a counterfactual-the cost of not migrating, and the ensuing economic-and possibly, social-hardships that the family of the would-be migrant would face.

Secondly, to the extent that social protection is a task-and duty-of the state, it is really up to the state to improve its protective mechanisms in terms of supporting women workers in foreign countries. Given that women have been migrating for work for almost thirty years now, it is high time we were able to devise mechanisms to protect women workers abroad, and improve social services at home that deal with the phenomenon of the absentee mother.

This would be an appropriate token of gratitude for the foreign exchange they earn, rather than imposing legislation that prevents women with young children from migrating for work. The latter simply serves to continue to trap these women and their families in poverty.

The writer is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics and Statistics at the University of Peradeniya.