Beyond Glass Ceilings and Brick Walls - International Labour ...

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Background Today’s complex environment of a rapidly globalizing economy with its incumbent economic pressures on families has made increasing demands on the supply of labour. More women have entered the labour market along with men for purposes of subsistence as well as to fulfil interests and aspirations for more advanced lifestyles and standards. Yet, patterns of labour distribution are not uniform for men and women; nor do women and men enter the labour market on even terms. On the whole, not only are there more men in employment than women, but men also occupy different occupational categories, different levels of employment and sometimes even different divisions within companies. This results in what is commonly referred to as gender segregation of the labour market (Hartmann 1982). Analyses of segregation patterns usually convey the following: • Vertical segregation - the tendency for women to be concentrated in the lower rungs of the labour market, whereas men are generally found in all strata while being inclined to dominate the highest levels. • Horizontal or occupational segregation - the tendency for men and women to be employed in different occupations from each other across the entire spectrum of occupations. • Sectoral or divisional segregation - the tendency of certain departments or divisions within an institution to be occupied exclusively by men or by women. Furthermore, the conditions in which women and men work, the status they are accorded, and the standards applicable to them differ frequently on the basis of their sex/gender, aside from other defining factors like educational and professional qualifications, ethnicity, class, caste, language proficiency, sexual orientation and identity. In particular, it is our contention that skewed gender ideologies and subtle gendered value systems are reflected in organizational superstructures. These are aspects of employment structures and practices such as management, recruitment, wages, and promotions. IX
Moreover, these same gender unequal perceptions, values, ethics, and morality also propagate institutional substructures or subcultures at the workplace - as a norm. Even more insidiously, these are maintained, reproduced and resisted through gender micropolitics - or the way in which power is relayed in everyday practices (Morley, 1999) - for instance, in terms of such issues as morality, language, dress codes and codes of conduct at workplaces. In fact, it is possible to even see work organizations as gendered entities (Goetz, 1992) where gender relations and gender politics are daily carried out. These inequalities in the labour market, and more pertinently, in the workplace, have been historically related to the gender division in labour, which place men in the public arena of life, and women in the domestic sphere - resulting in a split between work and the family (Rao et al, 1999). Yet, in today’s context, Sri Lankan men and women have multiple roles and responsibilities that are dynamic and flexible, involving both the household and the public realm: as economic producers and as decision-makers, in politics, social/cultural activities, as family members, child bearers and child carers, and as household managers. Moreover, Sri Lanka takes pride in a high literacy rate, equal access to education and employment opportunities and a fairly egalitarian policy in the distribution of educational and training facilities. Yet, the numbers of women in senior management positions who are directly responsible for decision-making and the management of organizations remain low. This is in spite of the fact that in most university courses (including management, law and the liberal arts), the numbers of women outnumber men, and large proportions of women attend management and accounts training programmes offered by private educational organizations and institutes. The need to examine the situation of women workers and the role of women in management in the private sector in Sri Lanka arises due to these apparent contradictions. Sri Lanka, along with other nations, subscribes to gender equity and equality (Wijayatilake, 2004) to ensure equal access to resources and opportunities and gender justice as part of its social and development goals. X
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Beyond Glass Ceilings and Brick Wal
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The Wages Board Ordinance No. 27 of
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An assault may include any act that
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The most recent gender disaggregate
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Table 2 indicates the major occupat
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Table 5: Private Sector Employment
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Aside from the survey of 100 compan
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men in the public sphere working ou
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to higher education (including thos
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The inequalities and inequities cem
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Unfortunately, these entitlements a
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One interviewee stated how the mark
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Employee Mobility 24 Training Respo
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doubtful that management was aware
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There were facile explanations in r
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Some examples of conditions for wor
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such as secretaries, who may be pro
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There are, of course, many other wo
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Women who undergo sexual harassment
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out to be the victim. (He had also
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worker dissatisfaction. This in tur
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Workers Rights and Unionization Non
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and family balance, the needs of wo
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linked to the type of product or se
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Women’s dress is also taken to si
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Language is also utilized in unders
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2) There is organizational prejudic
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54 PART II
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undertaken for the purpose of pinpo
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III Strategic Management In today
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The concept of “quality of work l
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• Successful organizations will r
Page 65 and 66: is rising. People today see more op
Page 67 and 68: 1. Social Expectations and Gender S
Page 69 and 70: Centralized, hierarchical, top-down
Page 71 and 72: organizational cultures can be deve
Page 73 and 74: posts will be mutually beneficial.
Page 75 and 76: 1. Soft toy manufacturing 2. Tea tr
Page 77 and 78: In the ten companies selected for t
Page 79 and 80: Such situations can be avoided if c
Page 81 and 82: In the IT service provider company,
Page 83 and 84: The inability or reluctance to trav
Page 85 and 86: In such a framework, persons with a
Page 87 and 88: to be provided with opportunities f
Page 89 and 90: women are treated by male colleague
Page 91 and 92: I. At Policy Levels • Articulate
Page 93 and 94: within an organization needs to be
Page 95 and 96: III. Training and Development • I
Page 97 and 98: V. Promotions • Improve advanceme
Page 99 and 100: 98 systems and the underdevelopment
Page 101 and 102: developing an enabling environment
Page 103 and 104: Organizational Superstructure: inst
Page 105 and 106: Employment of Women, Young Persons
Page 107 and 108: Sage Publications, (London / Thousa
Page 109 and 110: Contents Foreword Acknowledgments I
Page 111 and 112: Foreword Today, women are active ev
Page 113 and 114: I wish to express my sincere apprec
Page 115: Introduction This book is written w
Page 119 and 120: Hence, a majority of workplaces do
Page 121 and 122: Moreover, gender roles and responsi
Page 123 and 124: IT, hotels and travel. There is als
Page 125 and 126: This is followed by a more localize
Page 127: PART I
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