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

Perceptions of Gender at Work
1) The Work / Family Split
Both men and women have gender-based duties and responsibilities within
the family, largely based on the primary division of labour. In many societies,
including ours, there is still a general perception that women are solely
situated within the domestic sphere. Despite large numbers of women entering
the workforce in recent times, societies, families (and women themselves)
still hold women largely accountable for the stability, comfort and
maintenance of the family and the domestic sphere. This results in what is
commonly seen as ‘the double burden of women’- women’s workloads at
home and at work. If one is to add on women’s other activities in terms of
maintaining kinship relationships, involvement in cultural practices and
religious ceremonies as well as other community interactions, it is possible
to talk in terms of the multiple gender roles and responsibilities of women.
While men too are seen as possessing multiple roles and tasks - within the
family, in economic activity, and the political and societal spheres of life;
they are chiefly associated with the public sphere. Furthermore, their actual
manual labour inputs into the family are minimal, though this may be currently
changing in new family units.
Conflict between family and domestic responsibilities and workplace
responsibilities occurs frequently. Yet, in many instances, the family/work
split or conflict is perceived in association with women workers, especially
as employers (and women themselves) expect women to be responsible for
family or domestic issues and emergencies. For instance, women are expected
to miss work and take sick children to the doctor. Women are expected to
accompany children to school when the school van fails to arrive. This is not
to say that such expectations and demands are not also made of men. In
fact, men are increasingly seen to take the initiative in many of these family
responsibilities. However, employers (despite having families of their own)
tend to perceive “women as being a problem; they see women as requiring
short leave; women as not reporting to work; and so on”.
Then again, certain trades such as the travel trade can be structurally
predisposed towards employees who are unmarried. The stressful pace of
work, the long hours, and extra-business activities within the trade can
impact greatly on the family lives of workers. Consequently, these conditions
of work can pressurize workers who are responsible for domestic matters.
The need for flexibility and space for domestic duties of men and women are
progressively recognized as a legitimate issue affecting both male and female
workers. Especially because these are basic structural problems pertaining to
employees’ private lives which cannot be divorced from their public lives.
Consequently, work organizations are increasingly under pressure to acknowledge
and account for them, instead of blaming women. In order to promote a work
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